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kblincoln 's review for:
El guardián invisible
by Dolores Redondo
I am not usually a reader of police procedural murder mysteries but I do devour BBC mystery shows. I picked up this one on the advice of my Pamplona exchange sister-- who is married to a Basque police officer in Navarra where the book takes place. I am glad I did.
Not only did I get a story firmly entrenched in the regional flavor (literally part of the mystery revolves around a Basque pastry called txantxigorras) of the myths mediating the relationship between humans and primeval forest and harsh environmental conditions in the valley, but also a protagonist fully fledged and tangled up in disturbing and tragic family history.
Amaia is a police officer called back to her small hometown by a series of murders of young girls killed in a ritualistic way. But her investigation unearths not only clues to the murder, but repressed memories of her disturbed mother's actions that will have lasting consequences on her whole family.
The setting is often described in a poetic way, there is a touch of deus ex machina in the slight fantastical touches at times, and the pov switches were sometimes sudden, but that might be a cultural or translation issues rather than fault with the writing itself. Otherwise Amaia's slow, step by step accumulation of clues through police grunt work and hunches based on her insider knowledge of the town rang true to me.
The book ends with at least one mystery still not tied up, leading to the next book in the trilogy..still only available in Spanish. I might have to dust off my rusty Spanish and read the next one just to find out what happens if it doesn't get translated quickly...
Not only did I get a story firmly entrenched in the regional flavor (literally part of the mystery revolves around a Basque pastry called txantxigorras) of the myths mediating the relationship between humans and primeval forest and harsh environmental conditions in the valley, but also a protagonist fully fledged and tangled up in disturbing and tragic family history.
Amaia is a police officer called back to her small hometown by a series of murders of young girls killed in a ritualistic way. But her investigation unearths not only clues to the murder, but repressed memories of her disturbed mother's actions that will have lasting consequences on her whole family.
The setting is often described in a poetic way, there is a touch of deus ex machina in the slight fantastical touches at times, and the pov switches were sometimes sudden, but that might be a cultural or translation issues rather than fault with the writing itself. Otherwise Amaia's slow, step by step accumulation of clues through police grunt work and hunches based on her insider knowledge of the town rang true to me.
The book ends with at least one mystery still not tied up, leading to the next book in the trilogy..still only available in Spanish. I might have to dust off my rusty Spanish and read the next one just to find out what happens if it doesn't get translated quickly...