December Heat by Luiz Alfredo Garcia- Roza, 273 pagesLatin American Challenge: Brazil; Orbis Terrarum Challenge
December in Brazil is hot and the area of Rio de Janeiro called Copacabana is the scene of a murder. A retired cop's hooker girlfriend is found tied up and suffocated in her apartment. The cop, unfortunately, was so drunk he has amnesia and can't remember anything about the night. Inspector Espinoza in his second book, is called in as an old friend of the retired cop to solve the crime. Connected to the crime is a lost wallet, found by a street kid, and the chase to find the missing wallet.
I liked Espinoza as a main character and the local of Brazil was great. I felt I was sitting in a restaurant on the street of Rio at midnight watching the scenery. Espinoza is a educated, literary cop reading Lord Jim to clear his mind. Like most literary cops, he has no family but women are drawn to him despite his dark aura. There are chases and guns and violence and sex - everything a good mystery needs. There are several books in this series, unfortunately I started with the second book. I like to read a series in order, but there was no reference to his first case so it didn't matter that much.
I love books that make me feel I was there - that's part of why I like to read world fiction. Thanks for your review!
ReplyDelete/Eva - fellow OT-er