Rating: 4/5
Review:
Well written, but...
I found this book surprisingly hard going for much of it's length. It is well written and has a good deal to say about modern Spain and the attitudes and rivalries which compete there, but as a story it took a very long time to get going and by page 100 I thought it was heading for 3 stars at best. In fact it picked up quite well and the second half of the book did draw me in and made it worth reading.
I think my problem with the book is that it is largely about Spanish politics: the struggle between the relatively new democracy there and those who want to return it to a deeply reactionary Franco-style state, the influence of the Church, corruption in the police and government and so on. It's well enough done, but doesn't leave a lot of room for plot and character (although I did find Camara himself to be rather well drawn.) Given what seemed like rather long periods away from the investigation of the crimes I also found that I had forgotten who various witnesses, suspects and so on were by the time they reappeared, which isn't something I usually have a hard time with.
Once things began to move and gel together a little I did enjoy the book (although I could have done without the cliché-ed Cornered Killer Climax) and have given it four stars for that reason and because I liked the writing which is unobtrusive, unpretentious and enjoyable. You need to be prepared for a long slog in the first half of the book, though, so I can only give this a qualified recommendation.
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