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L. A. García-Roza

Silence of the Rain Hardcover – 25 October 2002

by Luiz Alfredo Garcia-Roza (Author)

16 ratings

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The first in a stunning new literary crime series featuring Detective Espinoza of the Rio de Janeiro Police Department.A handsome young businessman is found dead in downtown Rio, a suicide who left no note, who had everything to live for. But by the time the police are called, all traces of the man's identity and the weapon have been removed. Then as Detective Espinosa discovers that the man moved in the upper echelons of Rio society, and meets his beguiling and remarkable wife, clues to the way he lived and how he died lead Espinosa tantalisingly close to the truth. But is he on the right track?

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Product details

Publisher : Picador (25 October 2002)
Language : English
Hardcover : 256 pages
ISBN-10 : 0330490915
ISBN-13 : 978-0330490917
Dimensions : 13.5 x 2.5 x 21.6 cm

Customer Reviews:
16 ratings

Product description

About the Author

Luiz Alfredo Garcia-Roza was born in Rio de Janeiro in 1936, and still lives there today. He has an academic background in philosophy and psychology, and is a full professor at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro. His first novel, The Silence of the Rain, was honoured in 1997 with the Nestle and Jabuti prizes - the two greatest literature prizes given in Brazil. December Heat is the second novel in the Espinosa series.

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Winterwind

Neither noir nor...

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 2 June 2015

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Downhill all the way until the final pages beggar belief. A shame as the first few chapters are a good inversion of the usual whodunnit. We know who done it from page one so the rest of the book is more intrigue about the ever changing context to the death. Espinosa is an interesting character though hardly fleshed out. He buys books in secondhand bookshops but we never really get to explore why or what this means to him. Much seems like characterisation but mostly superficially. Also as Rio is a city of extremes, we don't really get much more than a flavour rather than Espinosa understanding of those extremes. Rio's rich culture is also superficial with some trite comments and one liners on the situation of the poor population there.

Women in the book do not escape stereotypes - beautiful and intelligent, beautiful and emotional and so on. Espinosa cant help but reflect on their looks and charms. In the end, when Rose the secretary has to escape the kidnapper, the solution is just plain offensive, absurd and wholly unrealistic for a woman in her predicament. Garcia Roza can't help but mix up her fear and danger with lame eroticism. Seems implausible.

Patto

Cerebral detective chases fantasies in Rio

Reviewed in the United States on 13 November 2012

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Inspector Espinosa is an engaging detective. He considers himself incapable of "sustained rational thought," yet he bears the same name as the great rationalist philosopher ( Spinoza in Portuguese becomes Espinosa). He's not corrupt, which makes him a misfit in the police force. His apartment is clogged with books, and he has no bookshelves, which puts him in constant conflict with his cleaning lady. He lives on Big Macs, milkshakes and frozen dinners, because he's divorced and alone. And he admires Melville's Bartleby the Scrivener -- a do-nothing character who makes an incongruous hero for a cop.

The plot gets off to an odd start. In the first pages a we watch an executive disguise his suicide as murder. But since Espinosa does not share the reader's knowledge, he spends most of the book trying to solve a murder that isn't a murder. But as he widens his investigation, key people disappear and real murders occur, which puts the inspector into a state of total confusion. He can only form fantasies about what 's going on, but his fantasies are all wrong.

It's rare to see so much floundering by the detective-hero in a police procedural, but Espinosa is such an appealing character that I forgave him all his mistakes. I even forgave his inappropriate attraction to certain women characters in the story.

The plot offers both inaction and action in generous doses. Tedious stake-outs and exciting shoot-outs. And some fascinating scenes of love-making. The denouement is ironic and unforgettable. I loved it.

So I enjoyed this book immensely, even though the detective wasn't always brilliant. For one thing, the writing style is superlative -- rich in humor and literary finesse. And the setting in Rio is fun, for different reasons than you might expect. I've already ordered the next couple of books in the series.

3 people found this helpful

Vija Leleps

The ending was not based on the story line or the plot

Reviewed in the United States on 25 July 2015

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I liked the book only because it kept me involved and the story line was such
that I kept reading, for I was absorbed in the plot. But there was little
description of the surroundings and no "atmosphere" of the place. I didn't
feel connected to the place at all. It could have taken place anywhere, whereas
I expected to feel something of being in Brazil. In my opinion, the sexual,
graphic depiction at the end had only one purpose, and that was to shock. It was
what typically the American reader desires. Sex and exploitation sell books in
America. This book, of course was a translation, but I have read numerous
criminal detective novels in languages other than English, and there is description, literary style and a complicated, intriguing plot that does not
require a unwarranted shocking sexually explicit ending when there was not one
instance of anything sexual in the entire book, except some thoughts that the detective had. I was disappointed, but will most likely read another book by the same author.

JPB

Silence of the Rain

Reviewed in the United States on 10 August 2011

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I found the book quite entertaining. Unfamiliar as I was with the locale the author succeded in establishing for us a genuine a sense of place.Those familiar with the use of up-to-date criminalistics in their police procedurals won't find them here. Against endemic corruption and third world methods the author offers us a detective who is at once humane, uncorruptible and and even noble. The novel moved along rapidly and the plot resolved itself logically.Those looking for a polite mystery may find this book gratuitously sensual and violent.I found the primitivity added authenticity. My one reservation was that I did not find the last scene credible. Those who watch the show 1000 Ways to Die might might find it entertaining. I found it simply bizarre.

Ladyce West

Let's have more of Espinosa! Women should love him!

Reviewed in the United States on 10 November 2004

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I truly enjoyed this book. It is fast paced, it is exotic in location and it has an intelligent cop. But even more astounding it only has smart women characters. There is not a single blond bimbo, prostitute or a lowlife female character, of dubious virtues. ALL of the women have professions, know what they want, and SURPRISE! they think! Not one needs the protection of our tough cop! This is so refreshing! It makes me want to read more of Espinosa. The book is a standard mystery. There is no need to try to find here the answer to your philosophical questions. Look for other styles for that. But it is a truly enjoyable one afternoon or two, depending on your time book, an uncompromising weekend read!

9 people found this helpful

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Silence of the Rain Hardcover – 25 October 2002

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