The Potter's Field

by Andrea Camilleri
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

When a body is found in a field of clay having been uncovered by a deluge. It becomes a sensation because the body is recovered in thirty separate pieces. The press would like to sensationalize the find by putting it an the category of ritual killings, Satanic murder and other newsworthy events.




As much as Salvo Montalbano bemoans his slow creep into old age by refusing to wear eyeglasses he can still see clearly and can read the message of the body. The thirty pieces of a corpse, along with burial in a potter's clay field suggests a mafia killing in the old time fashion of wanting to leave a message.

Montalbano believes that the message is obvious. It brings to mind the biblical story of the betrayal of Jesus for thirty pieces of silver by his friend Judas. Judas later committed suicide after flinging back the payoff in the faces of his own seducers. He was then buried in a potter's field kept as a burial ground for the indigent.

Potter's field

All that is left for Montalbano is to figure out is the who of the body and the murderer, the why, the where and the how. The killer is cunning but not as smart as Montalbano and the denouement of the mystery is classic.

Camilleri himself is getting older but he has some wonderful books still in him. In addition there are a few that are waiting for translation and that is a comfort to his English reading fans.