The main character is a 40-ish, weed-smoking chief inspector suffering from depression and mysterious women problems that never quite get resolved. The plot deals with socio-economic, religious and political issues that end with an overly explained but expected solution. The best part of the book is that I learned the different categories of paella in the Valencian dialect: bo (good), rebo (very good), mel (excellent) and de categoria (extraordinary). There is nothing lower than bo because there is no such things as a bad paella:) I enjoyed the sidekick of the main character - Torres. Over the years, the sub-category of Women's Fiction has sometimes made me wonder what Men's fiction might be. This book would be a prime example. Written in what could be considered a masculine style, we have our classic "loner" detective, complete with flaws and hero complex, who wakes with a woody, does a nipple-check at the beach, goes to a brothel, and struggles with the idea of abortion, because of how it makes all those would-be fathers feel. Alas, a bit too manly for me.
Do You like book A Death In Valencia (2012)?
A deep mystery in Sunny Valencia, dark & quirky characters, flashing with insight. A fine read.
—shannon
Leído en inglés. Una novela policiaca MUY ambientada en Valencia. El autor vive en Valencia.
—orangejuice
Dull. Boring. Learned more about Spain than I wanted to know.
—Kathleen
