The Silence of the Rain
An Inspector Espinosa Mystery
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3.2 • 5 Ratings
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- $14.99
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- $14.99
Publisher Description
A Brazilian bestseller, this sophisticated story of murder, sex, and corruption introduces a riveting new crime series.
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. It appears that he has been robbed and murdered. But the clues are few. The gun and his briefcase are nowhere to be found -- just the kind of case that is always assigned to Inspector Espinosa. Not your typical detective, the world-weary Espinosa has the mind of a philosopher, the heart of a romantic, and enough experience to realize that things are rarely as they first seem.
As Espinosa attempts to unravel the mystery of what really happened to Carvalho and his secretary, Rose, who disappeared shortly afterward, he discovers that the businessman had recently taken out a million-dollar life insurance policy. And there's another complication: Espinosa's attraction to Carvalho's beautiful widow, who is also one of the prime suspects. When two more bodies turn up, Espinosa is forced to shift the investigation into high gear before anyone else becomes a casualty.
Hurtling to a surprising and satisfying conclusion, The Silence of the Rain is an intelligent, unconventional detective novel with a distinctly Latin American flavor and a colorful, exciting locale. In Espinosa, America is about to meet an irresistible new sleuth.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In this unusual, deadpan thriller, the first of a trilogy by a bestselling Brazilian writer, Inspector Espinosa of the Rio de Janeiro police department, a jaded intellectual who'd rather visit a used bookstore than a crime scene, must catch the murderer of Ricardo Carvalho, a corporate executive found shot to death in a parking garage, his briefcase and wallet missing. Was it a robbery gone wrong or was someone involved in Carvalho's business or personal life out to get him? Thus begins a novel with an intriguing, circuitous plot and mysterious, expertly shaped characters, who are always one step ahead of Espinosa. Garcia-Roza shifts tense and voice, showing the reader what really happened everything except the person manipulating the story, whose identity remains a secret until the surprise ending. Espinosa, a solitary divorc , is attracted to two women in the case: Bia, Carvalho's beautiful, indifferent widow, the beneficiary of a $1 million life insurance policy; and Alba, the robust, sexy girlfriend of a man also interested in Bia. A third woman, Rose, Carvalho's loyal secretary and sometimes mistress who claims to have important information, vanishes. When two more people linked to the investigation meet gruesome deaths, Espinosa knows that the elusive Rose is the link to all the crimes and intensifies the search for her. The sultry Rio setting, whose exotic neighborhoods add definition to the action, and a most unorthodox detective should appeal to police procedural fans with a taste for the offbeat. FYI:Holt will publish the other two novels in the trilogy,Lost and Found andSouthwesterly Wind.
