• Skip to main content
  • Skip to secondary menu
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • Home
  • About Us & Contacts
    • About Us – RamonaDepares.com
    • Contact Us
  • Privacy & Cookie Policies
    • Privacy Policy
    • Cookie Policy
  • Affiliate & Advertising Disclosure
    • Affiliate Disclosure/Advertising Disclosure
    • Our Reviewing Process
    • Disclaimer Page
  • FAQs
  • Terms and Conditions

  • Home
  • FOOD
  • ARTS
    • BOOKS
    • THEATRE
    • MUSIC
  • FASHION
  • NEWS
  • Published Works
    • BELTIN: STEJJER MINN NIES MINSIJA
You are here: Home / BOOKS / Inspector Gallo: Alias Book Review

Inspector Gallo: Alias Book Review

July 12, 2021 by Ramona Depares

Inspector Gallo Alias

Alias, the new Inspector Gallo has landed, and I couldn’t have been more excited to receive it. I will say this upfront. I’m a sucker for genre books – specifically urban fantasy, whodunnits, and detective series. And thanks to Mark Camilleri finally dropping this fourth installment of the Gallo series, June is definitely the month of the polizjesk, as I like to refer to Maltese and Italian detective series.

I’ve been a fan of Gallo since the very first book, Prima Facie, which introduced us to the complex world of the charismatic Inspector. Fifty shades of grey is a phrase that springs to mind, but don’t get your panties in a twist – the phrase has nothing to do with the vanilla soft porn it has become sadly associated with, in the collective imagination, and everything to do with the conflicting principles, ideologies and characteristics of the infamous Gallo.

Perhaps Camilleri’s biggest triumph with the Gallo series has been that of creating such an intriguing, torn and multi-faceted main character. Gallo is not your classical black and white hero. There is nothing straightforward about his character and, while the trope of the detective torn by inner conflict, skirting the edge of the law to catch his villian, may be a well-worn one, Camilleri uses it to splendid effect, creating a Gallo that easily seduces with his only too-human flaws that we all relate to.

Gangland murders, serial killings and sexual violence

This fourth installment is no different, as we are introduced to a strong plotline that tests Gallo’s loyalty, friendships and personal relationships to the core. A string of gangland-like executions (somewhat reminiscent of real-life events) and serial killings provide the setting for what is essentially quite the shocking main murder.

Camilleri’s prose does not spare the imagination, providing just enough disturbing detail to acquaint us with the precise brutality of what has unfolded, while leaving us with enough questions to provoke our minds into filling in the blanks.

The cast of regulars from Gallo’s turbulent past pitch in, in some form or fashion, and I have to say that Camilleri masterfully weaves in subplots and valuable flashbacks that tie into the previous books, making us readers feel like we are part of Gallo’s journey, as eager to uncover more of his private life as we are to uncover the identity of the killer.

I do have some trigger warnings for the more sensitive readers. If I had to pick a bone, it would be the depiction of a scene involving sexual violence, where I felt certain details to be extra and that allusion might have served the purpose just as well. But this is, of course, more of a personal preference.

Gallo’s fourth adventure is a superbly addictive story that does honour to the genre and will undoubtedly delight fans of the giallo, keeping them guessing till the end while providing endless scope for theories and discussion. I am sure we will see Gallo continue thriving in the tradition of Andrea Camilleri’s Montalbano and the like.

For more book reviews, check out Trevor Zahra’s Sempreviva, Il-Manifest tal-Killer or winner of the EU prize for literature Kissirtu Kullimkien.

Affiliate/Advertising Disclaimer: How I Carry Out Reviews

I received no payment for this review; I was offered a review copy by the publisher. The opinions expressed here are purely my own and neither the author nor the publisher had any input/control over what I wrote. There are no affiliate links contained within this page.To learn more about my policies and my reviewing process, visit my Affiliate/Advertising disclosure page.

Ramona Depares

Former Head of News at Times of Malta, turned freelance journalist and creative writer. Three books published, 2 journalism awards, 1 Arts Council Malta award, work published locally & internationally.

Filed Under: BOOKS Tagged With: inspector Gallo, Malta authors, Mark Camilleri Alias, Mark Camilleri Gallo, Victor Gallo

Primary Sidebar

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • RSS
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Theatre Highlights

into-the-woods-teatru-manoel

A superb cast and crew successfully rose to the lofty heights expected of a Sondheim work.

il-manifest-tal-qlub-maqsuma

Offering a lot of potential, but the script fails to come together in the end.

Food Highlights

Zest is still leading the charge in Asian fusion on the local front.

the-bastion-pool-and-restaurant

A stunning oasis on the outskirts of the capital.

Fashion Highlights

a-curious-beauty-palazzo-falson

Delightful curatorial choices make this exhibition special.

handle-with-care-charles-and-ron

From statement pieces to survivalist chic, Handle With Care captivates our attention.

Books Highlights

book-teatru-tal-miskin

A fascinating look at how the production came about.

filli-ma-tcun-xejn-filli-titħol-fl-esistenza

A morose, yet hauntingly beautiful, journey.

Arts Highlights

kane-cali-i-dont-have-a-theory

A journey that sees the artist letting go of structure

it-teatru-tal-miskin

Excels on all fronts, a real game-changer

News Highlights

blanket-ban

Blanket Ban interview.

Is this the start of a revolution in Children’ Theatre?

Footer

  • Home
  • About Us & Contacts
    • About Us – RamonaDepares.com
    • Contact Us
  • Privacy & Cookie Policies
    • Privacy Policy
    • Cookie Policy
  • Affiliate & Advertising Disclosure
    • Affiliate Disclosure/Advertising Disclosure
    • Our Reviewing Process
    • Disclaimer Page
  • FAQs
  • Terms and Conditions

Copyright Ramona Depares © 2025

Manage Cookie Consent
We use cookies to optimize our website and our service.
Functional Always active
The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network.
Preferences
The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user.
Statistics
The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes. The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.
Marketing
The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes.
Manage options Manage services Manage {vendor_count} vendors Read more about these purposes
View preferences
{title} {title} {title}
  • Home
  • About Us & Contacts
    • About Us – RamonaDepares.com
    • Contact Us
  • Privacy & Cookie Policies
    • Privacy Policy
    • Cookie Policy
  • Affiliate & Advertising Disclosure
    • Affiliate Disclosure/Advertising Disclosure
    • Our Reviewing Process
    • Disclaimer Page
  • FAQs
  • Terms and Conditions
  • Home
  • FOOD
  • ARTS
    • BOOKS
    • THEATRE
    • MUSIC
  • FASHION
  • NEWS
  • Published Works
    • BELTIN: STEJJER MINN NIES MINSIJA