Description:
A Rio de Janeiro Thriller
In a parking garage in the center of Rio de Janeiro, corporate executive Ricardo Carvalho is found dead in his car, a bullet in his head, his wallet and briefcase missing. Inspector Espinosa is called in to investigate the apparent robbery and murder, but the world-weary Espinosa knows that things are not always as they seem. Carvalho's recently acquired one-million-dollar life insurance policy and the subsequent disappearance of his secretary Rose complicate matters--as does Espinosa's attraction to Carvalho's beautiful widow, one of the suspects. And when two more people turn up dead, Espinosa must speed up his investigation before anyone else becomes a casualty.
Brief description: Luiz Alfredo Garcia-Roza is a bestselling novelist who lives in Rio de Janeiro. His Inspector Espinosa mysteries--The Silence of the Rain, December Heat, Southwesterly Wind, A Window in Copacabana, Pursuit, and Blackout--have been translated into six languages and are available in paperback from Picador.
Review Quotes:
"Readers who like their thrillers to possess something beyond a fast-paced, tricky plot will find much to marvel over [here]...Breathes fresh air into the crime novel genre." --Los Angeles Times
"Effortlessly conveys ideas and characters...[and] displays the mystery novel as a richly expressive medium for ideas... Garcia-Roza will find an eager audience in English." --The Washington Post "Combines elements of the suspense novel with an erotic Brazilian ambience in a mix that keeps the pages turning." --St. Petersburg Times "A beautifully atmospheric, hard-boiled crime novel." --Booklist (starred review) "Garcia-Roza's Hitchcockian trick of knowing exactly how much to reveal to keep his audience off-balance keeps this melancholic debut simmering." --Kirkus Reviews