Day: April 4, 2012

Eduardo Mendoza: El enredo de la bolsa y la vida

As reported by Europa Press, Madrid, 9 March. Eduardo Mendoza will release soon El enredo de la bolsa y la vida (Seix Barral, 2012) a satire of today’s Europe and a new instalment of the adventures of his famous unnamed and mentally insane amateur sleuth; the main character of his novels El misterio de la cripta embrujada, 1979, (The Mystery of the Enchanted Crypt, Telegram Books, 2009), El laberinto de las aceitunas, 1982, (The Olive Labyrinth, Telegram Books, 2010) and La aventura del tocador de señoras, 2002, (The Adventure of the Powder Room)

The title can be translated freely as The mess of your money or your life. Taking into account that in the Spanish expression ‘la bolsa o la vida’, bolsa means money but can also mean the Stock market. 

The blurb says: (My free translation) The unnamed detective of ‘The Mystery of the Enchanted Crypt’, ‘The Olive Labyrinth’ and ‘The Adventure of the Powder Room’ (this last one is not available in English) is back in times of crisis. Against his will, moved only by friendship and without a euro in his pocket, he returns to act again as an unexpected sleuth in today’s Barcelona in a race against the clock to dismantle a terrorist plot before the intervention of the State security services.
Years after leaving the mental asylum where they shared a room, Romulo ‘the Handsome’ proposed our hero to participate in a crime. Our hero refuses and the mysterious disappearance of Romulo is the beginning of a mess to solve a case that has international ramifications with the help of an infallible team: Quesito a teenage girl, the professional swindler Pollo Morgan, an African albino Kiwijuli Kakawa -known as el Juli, la Moski a street accordionist, the pizza boy Manhelik and señor Armengol the manager of the restaurant “Se vende perro” (Dog for sale).
Eduardo Mendoza returns with a brilliant satire, as only he knows. In which the story creates its own credibility, which, paradoxically, belongs to the detective genre and the farce turns into a moral fable. One cannot talk about the book without a smile, but it is impossible to read it without laughing, and without realising hat in the technically bankrupt Europe in which we live, a destructive and imaginative humour is not enough; you also need the gift of lucidity.

New (to me anyway) Best Authors January to March 2012

I’ve read sixteen crime fiction books during the first quarter of this year of which seven (43,75%) were ‘new to me anyway’ authors: Stuart Neville’s Collusion, Val McDermind’s A Place of Execution, Roger Smith’s Mixed Blood, CJ Box’s Open Season, RJ Ellory’s A Quiet Belief in Angels, Ross Macdonald’s The Moving Target and Raúl Argemí’s Family Portrait with Dead Woman. 

Ross Macdonald and Val McDermind are pretty well known, therefore I would like to highlight that I’m looking forward to reading other books too by Stuart Neville, Roger Smith, CJ Box and Raul Argemí. But here today I think it’s worth to note Roger Smith in particular. I’m sure I’ll be reading the rest of his books soon. Stay tuned.

Roger Smith was born in Johannesburg, South Africa, and now lives in Cape Town. Before turning to a life of crime writing, he was a screenwriter, producer and director. Roger Smith’s thrillers Mixed Blood (2009), Wake Up Dead (2010), and Dust Devils (2011) are published in seven languages and two are in development as movies in the U.S. His books have won the Deutscher Krimi Preis (German Crime Fiction Award) and been nominated for Spinetingler Magazine Best Novel awards. Ishmael Toffee a novella (2012) is available in Kindle and his fourth novel, Capture, will be out in mid-2012. Visit his website: rogersmithbooks.com

 

 

 

 

 

For additional information read at Mack’s blog AfricaScreams:

 

New (to me anyway) is an attempt to share new-to-us authors who’ve excited us so far this year. The first edition of this meme will appear in Mysteries on Paradise on 4 April 2012 and it’s really easy to participate. There’ll be a Mr Linky at the bottom of MiP’s post that day. Just write a post about the best new-to-you crime fiction authors you’ve read so far this year (end of March), 2012, put a link to MiP in your post, and even use the logo if you like. The books don’t necessarily need to be newly published and you can list all the new-to-you crime fiction authors if you wish. The best format would be to link in your post to the particular posts where you reviewed those titles. After writing your summary post, then return to MiP and add your link to Mr Linky. Visit the links posted by other participants in the meme to discover even more books to read.

Now come on, let’s play, the game is afoot.

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