Preamble
If you’re interested in reading my academic work about detective and crime fiction (free PDFs available), check it out here. Or you can take a look at my short story collection of cosy mysteries featuring Victorian “lady detective” Meinir Davies; order now!
Review
I largely read detective fiction in English (as the language of writing or in translation), but I picked this up in the airport coming back from a holiday. It was actually on my Books Read list last year – I have just been very slow in writing up a review! I would give this 3.5 stars.
This was the first of the Puerto Escondido series I had read, as this was a random bookshelf pick, and it’s book 4 of 6, so of course there are some elements of the character- and world-building that I’ve missed by coming to it cold, but the novel hangs together well for a first-time reader. I felt I got a good sense of the investigative lead, Valentina, and the wider cast. Clara, the ME, and Antonio, the presiding judge, were both particularly interesting, and I’d like to see more of them in other novels.
The novel balances some of its gimmicks well. The location is important (given that the series is named after it!), but not predominant. The same can be said of the tennis world, which serves as the backdrop for this multi-murder mystery; it’s cute for those who know a bit about it, but doesn’t alienate those who don’t.
However, I do not love detective stories (or, indeed, other stories featuring career-focused women) who use sexual/reproductive violence or trauma as a form of character building. This quibble lessened as the story went on, as it was well handled. More of a challenge was the pacing. Of the multiples deaths and injuries presented in the novel, those that get solved are solved in the final fifth of the book. The investigation in the earlier parts of the book therefore feels a bit ponderous, especially in a novel that is part of a well-established series. Like any real-life team, fictional teams that work together again and again should get a little more slick and efficient! Still, the characters sit comfortably together (except where they’re not supposed to, of course).
I did enjoy reading this, and I would certainly pick up another one (probably the next, El camino del fuego, which takes Valentina Redondo to the UK!). Plus, I’d like to find out more about Agatha the beautiful-sounding cat….
Take a look at my short story collection featuring Victorian “lady detective” Meinir Davies; order now!
Dominique Gracia 
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