Customer Reviews

Alone in the Crowd: An Inspector Espinosa Mystery (Inspector Espinosa Mysteries)

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

An old widow-pensioner collects her monthly pension from the same teller at the same bank in the Copacabana area of Rio de Janeiro while exchanging a few ill-tempered words with him. Then she normally goes home. But this time she goes to the local 12th Police Precinct and, without revealing her reasons, demands to see the Chief (whom she does not know). Chief Espinosa is unavailable, and she says she will return later. Before she can do so, she dies under the wheels of a bus. Some of the many witnesses vaguely recall her stumbling forward as if she tripped---or was pushed. But no one actually saw anything wrong.

Chief Espinosa thinks it is probably an accident, but orders some inquiries that prove more puzzling than revealing. Espinosa gradually realizes that the less than forthcoming bank teller, Hugo Breno, grew up in the neighborhood and was a childhood acquaintance of his. Early on the reader has seen Breno tailing the Chief, something that he has been doing for years. The police have misgivings, even suspicions, but no evidence. Espinosa himself is wrestling with very uncertain memories of his childhood; memories that he is certain are relevant to the case but which he cannot bring to focus.

The book is well plotted and very smoothly written. The question is not "whodunit" but whether anything was done, and the uncertainty is maintained throughout. The characters are good and the police procedures are believable. The book, however, is not a realistic portrayal of the police in Rio unless the 12th Precinct is the only one in Rio that has nothing but honest and competent cops. This is a great and exciting read, but if you want a more realistic tale about police work in Brazil, try "Buried Strangers" by Leighton Gage.

It is so refreshing to read a book that flows as easily as this one. I have read all of senor Garcia Roza's books and as usual this one delivers. Inspector Espinosa is the consumate everyman in this thriller that takes us into the mind of a second rate imitator of the great detective...just when you think there are no leads, evidence or clues someone introduces that one element that sets this ball rolling. I wish i could tell you more but i respect the authors vision too much. the title is very fitting and story unfolds charmingly....my favorite scene is a side tale, one taught with sexual tension and a plan that challenges fidelity and tension. but this book. i didnt give it five stars only because it wasnt as good in my opinion as "A Window in Copacabana." but just as suspenseful.

Another decent instalment in the Inspector Espinosa series set in Rio de Janerio. Like the previous books in the series, we have a well laid out Brazilian police procedural. Of course the setting's in the 12th Precint in Copacabana and we only get a whiff of the violence of the favellas and none at all of the murderous police death squads. It seems a little odd that you have such an honest policeman surrounded by other dedicated members of the force and not even the slightest taint of the corruption and extra judicial killings we read about. But I am willing to suspend my disbelief, go with the flow and enjoy the murder investigation unfold to it's pretty predictable conclusion.

In a low-key thriller that builds to a shocking conclusion, Garcia-Roza once again proves himself a master of the genre, Inspector Espinoza and his detectives gradually unraveling a bizarre tale or murder and obsession. Growing up in Copacabana, Espinoza has established the comfortable rituals of his daily life, solving crimes, meeting on weekends with his long-time lover, Irene, a woman slightly younger than the inspector. A solitary man with a disciplined approach to his work, Espinoza is a thoughtful, measured investigator. And when the inexplicable death of an elderly woman, Dona Laureta, seems to be linked with her visit to the police station to visit the inspector, it is only through deliberative reflection that Espinoza stumbles upon a link to his own past and a bank teller named Hugo Breno.

A psychological game of past vs. present and a series of murder cases lead Espinoza through the dark pathways of a barely remembered childhood and a tragic incident, the obscure link between Espinoza and Breno tentative and elusive at best. Garcia-Roza plunges his protagonist- and his two capable detectives- into the world of imagined crimes with a sense of growing menace. Distracted for a moment by his relationship with Irene, Espinoza is caught in a clever trap, a major player in an elaborate scheme that leaves him questioning whether these crimes are a product of his own imagination. This taut psychological tale begins with coincidence but grows darker and more sinister, Breno lurking like a shadow on the fringes of Espinoza's life. Garcia-Roza never disappoints. Luan Gaines/2010.

This is a different kind of whodunit. It revolves around whether or not a murder was committed. Faced with this quest is Chief Inspector Espinosa, whose 12th Precinct takes in the breezy and fabled Copacabana neighborhood of Rio de Janiero. In order to crack the case involving a woman who dies not long after trying to contact Espinosa, the chief inspector is forced to dig deep into his own past, which he does with some reluctance. Espinosa is a worthy protagonist, who, in addition to solving crimes, knows a thing or two about how to enjoy the good life in the district whose name is synonymous worldwide with sun-and-beach-soaked hedonism. Unfortunately, it also has a reputation for a certain amount of crime and the author skillfully blends these two forces into a most enjoyable police thriller. This is a simple book with few characters and a pretty linear plotline. But Garcia-Roza is an excellent writer and knows how to keep you riveted with fewer words and plot surprises.

Garcia-Roza has created a wonderful series of characters and picked up the languid pace of Rio. Inspector Espinosa uses instincts and diligent police work to achieve a breakthrough in the death to which he is called. This, like the other books in the series, is a short but well written and enjoyable story.

Every Inspector Espinosa mystery is a delight for me, especially because I like Bairro Peixoto and Copacabana. Every book seems better than the last, and all of them bring the neighborhood and the life of a Rio de Janeiro policeman clearly to life.

An elderly woman dies in the crowded streets of the Copacabana district of Rio de Janeiro after trying to see Chief Inspector Espinosa. Is the death murder or an accident? The woman had spent part of her afternoon collecting her pension check at the State Bank. Is that transaction connected to her death? Espinosa comes to believe that it is, and particularly to the strange bank teller that the victim dealt with. The Chief gradually recollects how his own childhood intersects with the case. The recollection will put him in serious peril as he confronts a psychotic killer bent on revenge for 30 years of personal torment.

"Alone in the Crowd" includes a separate track that examines Espinosa's personal life--specifically the long-term relationship with Irene, his weekend girlfriend. The future of that relationship, never clear in previous novels, becomes even murkier as the beautiful Irene shows up with an equally beautiful blond girlfriend, who could be a romantic interest for either Espinosa or Irene herself. While this part of the story is never completely resolved, there does seem to be forward progress for Espinosa and the alluring Irene by the end of the book.

This episode of the Espinosa series is a bit less focused than previous books, but well-written, engaging and pulled together nicely at the ending. As always, Rio is a big player in the story, with the reader being efficiently transported to the city through the very clever writing of Luiz Alfredo Garcia-Roza and an equally talented English translator. A good mystery read.

This was the worst of all the Espinoza novels I read. The plot was very thin, implausible and really didn't make much sense pschologically. There was a twist which involved Espinoza's girlfriend and her friend which ddn't make sense and was not resolved. I feel it was an afterthought to add to the story.

At a bank in Rio de Janeiro, pensioner Dona Laureta withdraws her money from the same teller Hugo Breno every month like clockwork. She leaves the bank, goes to the grocery and pharmacy, and then she travels to the police of the Twelfth Precinct in Copacabana. She asks to speak with the chief, but Espinoza is tied up in a meeting. She decides to leave and come back later, but instead is run over by a bus; bystanders believe she was deliberately pushed.

The police interrogate Breno who remains a person of interest. Espinoza has him under surveillance. They learn he has no friends, conducts a fanatical physical exercise program, and walks in dense crowds without speaking to anyone. Espinoza is unaware that Breno has been watching him for decades and even came to the same park when they were children. A memory of a child's death makes the cop wonder if the teller was involved. They meet at a restaurant and Hugo tells his story to Espinoza. A day later Laureta's friend is killed. Espinoza is sure that Breno killed both women, but has no evidence. Both adversaries risk their lives with similar yet differing purposes.

The translation of this novel is executed perfectly (by Benjamin Moser) so that the Brazilian customs come across full of life but different from America and especially how that impacts the way the police do their job in Rio. Ergo readers will feel they are in Brazil and not in their armchair. Inspector Espinoza is a good person doing a good job as he struggles with an investigation that contains a personal twist, but seems to be going nowhere though he is 100 percent positive Breno is the killer. The audience will admire the lead character and want to read his past cases (see BLACKOUT and PURSUIT) as the aptly titled ALONE IN THE CROWD is a super Brazilian police procedural.

Harriet Klausner



Harriet Klausner