Customer Reviews

Who Killed Palomino Molero?

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The time is the 1950s, the place is Peru, and the victim is a young air force enlisted man named Palomino Molero, in Mario Vargas Llosa's spare, tightly written and excellently constructed whodunit. Palomino Molero, eighteen years old, a guitar player who enchanted everyone for miles around singing boleros, is found brutally tortured and murdered near a local air force base.

Two civil guards, Officer Lituma and Lieutenant Silva, try to unravel the crime. Rumors abound all over the place; the victim was involved in smuggling or the like and the higher-ups are covering up the perpetrators. But when Silva and Lituma find out that what Palomino Molero was involved in was not smuggling but a love affair with the daughter of his base commander, the plot thickens in all kinds of ways.

Vargas Llosa's book is not only a crime novel but a bitter indictment of the social/racial conflicts of modern Peru, where an airman cannot fall in love with the daughter of a colonel, especially if she is white and he is a cholo (half-breed). Vargas Llosa knows how to leaven his story with comic relief; Lieutenant Silva is hopelessly in love with and shamelessly pursuing the respectably married Dona Adriana, and her revenge on him for his presumption is a riot. The murder is solved, but the townspeople won't accept the truth, and insist that they were right all along; there were "higher-ups" involved. "Higher-ups" indeed.

It would be a crime in itself to give the solution away and I'm not going to; suffice to say that Vargas Llosa has written a gem of a murder mystery with an ingenious plot twist. It's a very short novel and shows again that some of the best things come in small packages.

Judy Lind

First this is a crisp short book that is well worth the time to read. The setting alone is quite different from most mysteries/police procedurals. A peruvian Air Force Airman is brutally murdered and two local Guardia Civil Policeman must find the killer before their small town goes crazy thinking they are protecting the "big guys." They get no help from the Air Force officials. Character devleopment is remarkably good for such a short book and you will grow to appreciate Lituma and the Lieutenant and hope that the first LLosa mystery will include more stories of this pair. My only complaint is that 10 bucks is a lot to ask for a book that will take you 3 hours to read.

I loved the book. It was based on real events as witnessed by my father in the airforce base of Talara (Peru). Palomino is the sacrificial lamb of jelaousy and later corruption. A great read for a change of pace.

"Who Killed Palomino Molero?" is Mario Vargas Llosa's first stab at the detective thriller genre and it's a winner! Llosa uses the premise of a murder mystery to explore the theme of innocence and guilt in a society that's so ridden with corruption that the concept of justice is all but an illusion. There is no sense of relief in the denouement when the truth is told and the identity of the killer is revealed. Just like Alicia, the Colonel's daughter, the people of Talara suffer from permanent delusion, preferring to ignore the facts and attribute all of society's ills to "the big boys". Lituma is Lieutenant Silva's foil but also Llosa's voice. Through his ruminations and asides, Llosa articulates his horror of corruption and racism that permeate Peruvian life. Never making heavy weather of serious themes, Llosa infuses the novel with such sidesplitting humour you can't help but revel in Silva's obsessive lust over the voluptuous Dona Adriana. His sense of comedy and intuitive grasp of what's funny is displayed none more convincingly than in the final scene when the lady turns the tables on Silva. This is definitely one of the most captivating and enjoyable books I have read all year. Don't miss it !

Eminent Peruvian novelist Llosa tries his hand at the crime story with this police procedural set in 1950s Peru. He doesn't stray too far from the tropes of the genre, as a crafty Guarda Civil Lieutenant and his sentimental Sergeant run afoul of powerful military types as they investigate the torture and murder of a young airman from a nearby Air Force base. Still, in this novella length story, he manages to produce a remarkable amount of character development with the two policeman, including an offbeat subplot about the Lieutenant's infatuation with a pudgy married cook. Unsurprisingly, as they slowly unfold the circumstances surrounding the young man's killing, issues of race, class, and corruption come to the fore. And, with such a buildup, it should come as no surprise that the resolution is more bitter than sweet. In sum, this is a relatively minor work from a major writer.

Peruvian author Vargas Llosa's hard-boiled detective novel Who Killed Palomino Molero? illustrates the different dynamics love and social class status have in northern Peru during the 1950s. A horrifying scene that reveals the body of Palomino Molero opens up the novel and shows the evil that someone is capable of committing. Officer Lituma and Lieutenant Silvia of the Guardia Civil investigate the crime to answer the title question while discovering the reality of the segregation of social classes and the wall it puts up creating forbidden love. Vargas also exhibits the roles of men and women in a society where men are allowed to objectify women. Who Killed Palomino Molero? is an enjoyable and thrilling read that kept me on my feet even though it is very graphic and disturbing at times.

This book reminds me of "chronicle of a death foretold" - you may think this is too much of a overdraft but this is just pure sunshine. The translation is just as effective as the plot. The main investigators in the case Lituma and Lieutenant Silva represent a class who takes the insult in what ever form it may be but do not nudge back - gives back a subtle reply which gives the final twist. The author has been able to achieve a twist inside a twist which keeps us wondering at the end about the real topic of the book, which is suppose to be a detective story. The plot changes from an investigation story to traumatic social relations living history. Sometimes I was thinking - is this father Brown with a little bit of Tango? The death of Palomino Molero does not represent a simple case of torture and murder but a social dilemma of hatrate which has its grips so deeply rooted that sometimes people do not even question it . I promise you will enjoy this book.

In a novel that is part farce, part political critique (Llosa's stock in trade), and part gritty police procedural, Mario Vargas Llosa creates a very interesting narrative about the death of a young man. Lieutenant Silva is not your normal police officer. He is raunchy (constantly talking about a "plump" married woman he is obsessed with bedding), he has a very off beat sense of humor, and his methods of interrogation are insightful, albeit manipulative. However, when seen through the eyes of his younger partner, Officer Lituma, it is obvious that Silva is extremely insightful, crafty, and ladened with a shrewed intelligence.

When Silva and Lituma are led by a young shepherd to the mutilated corpse of Palomino Molero, it is obvious that whoever killed him was settling a grudge. However, when it is discovered that Palomino Molero was having an affair with the daughter of a colonel within the Air Force, Silva's discovered web of intrigue and deception complicates his investigation even more. The colonel is obviously lying when they interview him, but this novel has so many potential red herrings, that it is irresitible to pin it on him.

With colorful characters, a setting that is a character unto itself, and lots of humor (watch for Silva spying on his beloved while she is bathing), Llosa creates a treat with this novel. Even though it is by far not his best work, it is a good example of a quick read that touches the tip of the iceburg of his creative genius. It is obvious that this is not the reason he recently won the Nobel Prize for Literature, but it is a great example of the potential of his work. It is a rip roaring farce that I would suggest be read when you are in a light mood.

This had some great character development in the book. I read it many years ago and it still stays with me: the descriptions, the people in the book, the character-flaws in each character. I am so glad to have read this book

Palomino Molero is a young airman in the Peruvian Air Force who is found brutally murdered near his base by a goatherd. The local Guardia Civil is notified, and Lieutenant Silva and Officer Lituma undertake an investigation. The pair soon find out that Palomino left the base several days before his murder, and suspect that his killers will be found there. The commanding officer, Colonel Mindreau, a haughty white officer, condescendingly tells the pair (who are cholos, like the murdered airman) that he has investigated the case and concluded that no one on the base knows anything about the crime. The lieutenant is far from convinced, however, particularly when the colonel becomes enraged and flustered after he is questioned further. The officers are hampered by their inability to interview anyone on the base by the colonel, until an anonymous tip points them in the right direction.

"Who Killed Palomino Molero?" is a mystery set in mid-20th century Peru, which lightly touches on class and racial differences, corruption, and power. It does not have the complexity or power of Vargas Llosa's better known novels, such as The Time of the Hero or The Conversation in the Cathedral, but it was still an enjoyable read.