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The Silence of the Rain

An Inspector Espinosa Mystery

Luiz Alfredo Garcia-Roza; Translated by Benjamin Moser

Picador

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ISBN10: 0312421184
ISBN13: 9780312421182

Trade Paperback

272 Pages

$21.00

CA$22.99

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In a parking garage in the corner of Rio de Janeiro, corporate executive Ricardo Carvalho is dead in his car, with a bullet in his head and his wallet and briefcase missing. World-weary Inspector Espinosa is called in to investigate the apparent robbery and murder, but the philosopher-detective knows all too well that things are not always as they seem. Carvalho's one-million-dollar life insurance policy and the subsequent disappearance of his secretary muddy the water—but not nearly as much as the sexy allure of Espinosa's prime suspect, Carvalho's beautiful widow. When two more people turn up dead, the investigation takes on a sudden urgency, hurtling toward a shocking, unconventional conclusion.

This novel introduces readers to a protagonist-detective who is at once brilliant yet jaded, savvy yet sketical, and wholly engaging and likable. As The Baltimore Sun has noted: "If Gabriel García Márquez wrote crime fiction, he might create a detective like Inspector Espinosa."

Reviews

Praise for The Silence of the Rain

"Breathes fresh air into the crime novel."—Los Angeles Times

"Clever, fast-paced, cinematic."—Newsday (New York)

"A striptease of a thriller that moves to a samba beat."—St. Petersburg Times

"The Silence of the Rain is the kind of mystery that lingers in the mind long after you've finished reading. It's atmospheric, erotic, and intelligent. I'll be haunted by it for some time to come."—T. Jefferson Parker, author of Black Water

"Engrossing and captivating . . . [Espinosa], with his existential sensibility, his exotic beat, and his literary merit, seems poised to join the ranks of the great modern international fictional cops."—San Francisco Chronicle

"A heady and somewhat exotic mixture of psychological suspense and police procedure."—Library Journal

"A best-selling Brazilian novelist sets his beautifully atmospheric, hard-boiled crime novel in the sensual and steamy neighborhoods of Rio . . . Readers will be grateful to know that the other two books in this luscious crime trilogy are forthcoming from Henry Holt."—Booklist (starred review)

"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 . . . 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."—Publishers Weekly

Reviews from Goodreads