Synopsis: Inspector Santos Trinidad, a veteran policeman, drinks too much and works too little. Maybe to forget he was once a model officer at the Intelligence Unit now downgraded to the Missing Persons Unit. Events turn sour one night and Santos finds himself implicated in a triple homicide in an after-hours club. Santos cleans up the crime scene and starts the hunt for the only witness, who managed to escape. Following the trail of the fugitive witness, Santos discovers a complicated and sordid network of prostitution and drug trafficking that serves to finance a far more sophisticated criminal plan. He is back doing what he does best, although this time he is on his own. The official police investigation begins to tighten the net around him, but Santos has begun his own personal crusade: he finally has the chance to settle his own score. (Filmax International).

I have not had the chance to see this film yet. Stay tuned.

Ezcaray, a small village in La Rioja (Spain), is located 34 km south west of Haro. I took these pictures this morning.

Berkley Prime Crime mass-market edition, May 2002 (G.P. Putman’s Son hardcover edition, July 2001). 278 pages. ISBN: 978-0-425-18546-9.

Open Season is the first in a series featuring Wyoming Game Warden Joe Pickett. The story is set in the fictional Twelve Sleep County in Wyoming. Game wardens, as we can read on C.J. Box webpage, “are trained and armed law enforcement officers, and nearly every human they encounter in the field is armed, which is unique. Often, they’re too far from town to call backup in an emergency so they’re forced to deal with situations with their experience, weapons, and wits. Their districts can encompass 5,000 square miles of rough country filled with wildlife, history, schemes, and secrets.”

Ote Keeley is a local hunting guide. One day, while Pickett is writing him a citation for hunting off-season, he takes away Pickett’s pistol. The incident ends with their mutual agreement to keep it quiet. But word spreads and Pickett receives a reprimand that will stay forever in his file. The investigation remains open. Meanwhile Keeley’s trial date for poaching is set within two weeks but the trial will not be held. Keeley is found dead next to a woodpile in Pickett’s backyard. He has been  murdered. Nearby, a plastic cooler is found empty with remains of fur and droppings inside. Pickett suspects that Keeley was carrying some kind of animal in the cooler. The investigation into the death of the poacher and the identity of the missing animal will jeopardise Pickett’s life and the lives of his loved ones.

I very much enjoyed reading this book that has made me feel like a child again. The story seemed to me a kind of western. Joe Pickett is certainly a character that could have been played by Henry Fonda, or Jimmy Stewart. A nice guy who wants to do the right thing in spite of his blunders. The plot is well developed and the setting is fantastic, especially if you love living outdoors. I have to thank Maxine for her excellent reviews that have encouraged me to read this series. To be continued.

My rating: 4 out of 5.

Charles James Box, Jr. is a native of Wyoming and has worked as a ranch hand, surveyor, fishing guide, a small town newspaper reporter and editor, and he co-owns an international tourism marketing firm with his wife, Laurie. An avid outdoorsman, Box has hunted, fished, hiked, ridden, and skied throughout Wyoming and the Mountain West. He serves on the Board of Directors for the Cheyenne Frontier Days Rodeo. Box lives outside of Cheyenne with his wife Laurie, and daughters, Molly, Becky and Roxanne. His Joe Pickett Series has twelve novels. The first in this series, Open Season, was included in the New York Times list of “Notable Books” of 2001. For Open Season, he won the Anthony Award, the Macavity Award, the Gumshoe Award, and the Barry Award, all in the Best First Novel category. He also has written several stand-alone novels. 

Open Season has been reviewed by Maxine at Petrona, Bernadette at Reactions to Readings, Rob at The View from the Blue House, and Gerard Brennan at Crime Scene NI among others.

• Books by C.J. Box at Fantastic Fiction.
• C.J. Box website 
• C.J.Box in the Spotlight with Ayo Onatade
• Penguin U.S.
• Corvus U.K.

Open Season de C.J. Box

Open Season (Temporada de caza) es el primer libro de una serie protagonizada por el guarda de caza de Wyoming Joe Pickett. La historia se desarrolla en un condado ficticio de Wyoming llamado Twelve Sleep. Los guardas de caza, como podemos leer en la página web de C.J. Box “son agentes de la ley especialmente entrenados y armados. Casi todos los seres humanos que se van a encontrar estarán armados, lo que representa un caso único. A menudo, estarán muy lejos de la ciudad para poder solicitar ayuda en caso de emergencia por lo que estarán obligados a hacer frente a cualquier situación sólo con su experiencia, con sus armas, y con su ingenio. El área que cubren puede abarcar 5.000 millas cuadradas de terreno accidentado lleno de vida salvaje, historias, maquinaciones y secretos.“

Ote Keeley es un guía de caza local. Un día, mientras Pickett le está poniendo una denuncia por cazar fuera de temporada, le quita la pistola a Pickett. El incidente termina con el mutuo acuerdo de mantenerlo en secreto. Pero se corre la voz y Pickett recibe una amonestación que quedará para siempre en su expediente. La investigación sigue abierta. Mientras tanto, la fecha del juicio de Keeley por furtivo se fija para dentro de dos semanas, pero el juicio no se celebrará. Keeley es encontrado muerto junto a un montón de leña en el patio trasero de la casa de Pickett. Ha sido asesinado. Cerca de allí, se encuentra vacía una nevera de plástico con restos de piel y de excrementos en su interior. Pickett sospecha que Keeley llevaba algún tipo de animal en la nevera. La investigación sobre la muerte del cazador furtivo y la identificación del animal desparecido pondrá en peligro la vida de Pickett y las vidas de sus seres queridos.

Disfruté mucho la lectura de este libro que me ha hecho sentirme como un niño otra vez. La historia me ha parecido una película del oeste. Joe Pickett es sin duda un personaje que podría haber sido interpretado por Henry Fonda, o por Jimmy Stewart. Un buen tipo que quiere hacer lo correcto a pesar de sus meteduras de pata. La trama está bien desarrollada y el entorno es fantástico, especialmente si te gusta vivir al aire libre. Tengo que agradecer a Maxine por sus excelentes críticas que me han animado a leer esta serie. Continuará.

Mi valoración: 4 sobre 5.

Charles James Box, Jr. es un nativo de Wyoming y ha sido mano de obra en un rancho, capataz, guía de pesca, periodista en el periódico de un pueblo pequeño y editor. Junto con su mujer Laurie es co-propietario de una empresa de marketing turístico internacional. Un entusiasta de la vida al aire libre ha cazado, pescado, explorado a pie, montado a caballo y esquiado por todo Wyoming y por las Mountain West. Es miembro de la Junta Directiva del Cheyenne Frontier Days Rodeo. Box vive a las afueras de Cheyenne con su mujer Laurie y sus hijas, Molly, Becky y Roxanne. Su serie protagonizada por Joe Pickett cuenta con doce novelas hasta la fecha. La primera de esta serie, Open Season, fue incluida en la lista del New York Times de los libros más destacados del año 2001. Por Open Season recibió los premios Anthony, Macavity, Gumshoe, y Barry, todos en la categoría a la mejor novela novel. También ha escrito varias novelas independientes.

(Pan Books, 2009). First published 2008 by Macmillan. 392 pages. ISBN: 978-0-330-51265-7.

White Nights is the second book in the Shetland Quartet by Ann Cleeves, a detective Jimmy Perez mystery series. Despite his name, Perez is a Fair Isle native. ‘An ancestor had been washed ashore after the wreck of a ship from the Armada.’ White Nights follows Raven Black who was the first one in the series and the first winner of the prestigious Duncan Lawrie Dagger Award for the best crime novel of 2006. See my review of Raven Black HERE. The last two books in the series are Red Bones (2009) and Blue Lightning (2010).

At the opening of an art exhibition in Biddista at the Herring House gallery a stranger falls to his knees in front of one of the paintings, puts his hands over his face and bursts into tears. Jimmy Perez who has just started dating one of the artists and has come to see the demonstration, tries to help him. The stranger is an Englishman who claims to have lost his memory. He doesn’t know who he is or how he has got there. During the confusion, the mysterious man disappears and the incident is thus settled. Perez thinks that at this time of the year everyone goes a bit crazy. This is the time of the white nights, when the sun never sets. In the Shetlands they call it the ‘summer dim’. The next morning the Englishman is found a few hundred yards from the Herring House, where he has last been seen. He is hanging from a rafter in a boathouse with a mask on his face. Perez thinks he hasn’t come here to kill himself, he should have attended the party for some other reason. The local  doctor suspects that he was already dead before he was hanged.

I’ve enjoyed reading this book that may well be considered a ‘locked room mystery’. I do like the atmosphere that Ann Cleeves is able to develop and her writing style. However I think the plot doesn’t work well at the end. Maybe because there are many different characters and, sometimes, their relationship doesn’t seem to be very clear to me. I’ve also found rather forced the final solution. However, I look forward to reading Red Bones, the next in the series.

My rating: 3 out of 5. 

White Nights has been reviewed by Maxine at Euro Crime, Pat Austin at Euro Crime, Margaret at Books Please, Rob at The View from the Blue House, Bernadette at Reactions to Reading, Nick Hay at Reviewing the evidence, Kerrie at Mysteries in Paradise, among others.    

• Ann Cleeves webpage
• Ann Cleeves on White Nights at Shotmag
• Pan Macmillan (UK)
• Pan Macmillan (USA)
• An interview with crime writer Ann Cleeves at The Newcastle Winter Book Festival 2011, Newcastle City Library

Noches Blancas de Ann Cleeves

White Nights (Noches Blancas) es el segundo libro del Cuarteto de Shetland, de Ann Cleeves, con el detective Jimmy Pérez como protagonista. A pesar de su nombre, Pérez es un nativo de Fair Isle. “Un antepasado suyo fue a dar a esta tierra tras el naufragio de un buque de la Armada Española.” White Nights le sigue a Raven Black, el primero de la serie y el primer ganador del prestigioso premio Duncan Lawrie Dagger a la mejor novela policiaca de 2006. Ver mi crítica de Raven Black AQUÍ. Los dos últimos libros de la serie son Red Bones (2009) y Blue Lightning (2010).

En la inauguración de una muestra de arte en la galería Herring House de Biddista un extraño se inca de rodillas delante de una de las pinturas  se tapa la cara con sus manos y rompe a llorar. Jimmy Pérez que ha empezado a salir con una de las artistas y ha acudido a ver la exposición, intenta ayudarlo. El foratero es un inglés que afirma haber perdido la memoria. No sabe quién es ni cómo ha llegado hasta allí. Durante la confusión el misterioso hombre desaparece y el incidente se resuelve de esta manera. Pérez cree que en esta época del año todo el mundo se vuelve un poco loco. Esta es la época de las noches blancas, cuando el sol nunca se pone. En las Shetland lo llaman el “verano tenue”. A la mañana siguiente el inglés aparece a pocos metros de la galería, donde ha sido visto por última vez, colgado de una viga en un cobertizo, con una máscara en su rostro. Pérez piensa que él no ha venido aquí a suicidarse, que debía haber asistido a la fiesta por alguna otro motivo. El médico local sospecha que ya estaba muerto antes de haber sido colgado.

He disfrutado mucho leyendo este libro que bien puede ser considerado como un clásico misterio de “cuarto cerrado”. Me gusta la atmósfera que Ann Cleeves es capaz de desarrollar y su forma de escribir. Sin embargo creo que el argumento no funciona bien al final. Tal vez porque tiene demasiados personajes diferentes y, a veces, la relación entre ellos no parece estar muy clara, al menos para mí. También he encontrado un poco forzada la solución final. Sin embargo, estoy deseando leer Red Bones, el siguiente de la serie.

Mi valoración: 3 de 5.

Rubem Fonseca (born 1925) was Brazil’s most highly regarded author of the late 20th century, with a string of critical and popular successes that combined the conventional mystery/thriller format with a sophisticated, polished prose style and a focus on urban alienation.

Read more: http://www.answers.com/topic/rubem-fonseca#ixzz1lyYoRnpn

Rubem Fonseca at Wikipedia.

Agosto – Rubem Fonseca (Resumo) in Portuguese

http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1545591.Agosto

RBA in Spanish.

This year I was determined not to participate in any reading challenge to read more freely, without being constrained by its rules. However I’m particularly attached to the Global Reading Challenge hosted this year by Kerrie at Mysteries’ in Paradise. You can find HERE the Challenge Rules. So far I’ve read:

• Europe: A Place of Execution, by Val McDermid (Great Britain)
• Africa: Mixed Blood, by Roger Smith (South Africa)

I’m participating at the Easy Level which requires me to read one novel from each of these continents in the course of 2012: Africa, Asia, Australasia/Oceania, Europe, North America, South America and the Seventh Continent (here you can either choose Antarctica or your own ´seventh´ setting, eg the sea, the space, a supernatural/paranormal world, history, the future – you name it). Besides I have set my own rules: crime fiction only and new to me authors. Guess what comes next, stay tuned.