Book 36 of the 50 Book Challenge

Southern Seas by Manuel Vazquez Montalban, 214 pages

Started May23rd, finished May 30th.

I enjoyed this book much more than the previous Pepe Carvahlo novel.  This was back in Barcelona and it felt much better.

Pepe is hired by a rich widow to find out how and why her husband was killed.  It's far from a simple plot with twists and turns aplenty.  Our main character is once again behaving in a manner that can hardly be hailed as gentlemanly.  His behaviour would have him sacked from any legitimate police force.  It's refreshing to have a detective breaking the usual molds.

The characters are well written.  Montalban doesn't go too much into back story but writes them as they behave.  This keeps the book flowing and lets us know around the same as the investigator himself.  I was totally in the dark for most of this story.  It was enjoyable to pick up the pieces as they were dropped by the author.

The setting is quite alien to me.  It is fascinating to read about Barcelona in the years immediately following Franco's death but it isn't an easy place for me to get a grasp on either.  The various political parties and viewpoints make for good reading and in this I feel we don't get too much of that as I felt we did in Murder in the Central Committee.  Though it seems from online bibliographies I have read these books the wrong way around.  

Once again there are marvellous descriptions of food in the story.  Pepe has a great appreciation for food and wines.  Shame he isn't real, he would be a great guide to Barcelona and it's cuisine.  After this I'm definitely looking forward to the next in the series, Offside.  Though that's a fair way down the tower yet.

4 out of 5 pawprints

Total so far, Books - 36, Pages -10,908

Next - The Brass Verdict by Michael Connelly

Book 33 of the 50 Book Challenge

Murder in the Central Committee by Manuel Vasquez Montalban, 203 pages

 

Started May 14th, finished May 19th.

 

Quite a while ago I'd read a couple of this author's books and really enjoyed them.  So I decided to get through the rest.

 

The books tell the tale of Pepe Carvahlo, a food loving, loose living private detective in Barcelona.  Not long after Franco's death.  The books are interesting for their descriptions of Barcelona, it's foods and wines and a look at the politics of the time.  Usually without getting too deep.

This book was my least favourite of the ones I've read so far.  It is the one most heavily mired in politics.  the politics of the Communist Party. Carvahlo is asked by the Communist Party to discover who murdered their Secretary Genral, in a closed room with a small amount of suspects.  Carvahlo himself is an ex-communist and is therefore reviled by many of those he is investigating.  The politics are not uninteresting it's just that there is too much that over everything else.

 

It is an interesting tale but I got bogged down by all the political discussion.  Also the book is set in Madrid and doesn't have the same vibe.  There is less discussion of food on a regular basis.  Though there are the typical seductions.

 

I think if I had a better knowledge of Spanish history under Franco's rule I may have found it an easier read.  That is definitely a knowledge void I need to work on.

2.5 out of 5 pawprints

Total so far, Books - 33, Pages -10,161

Next - The Overlook by Michael Connelly