9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Murder in the Tropics, April 19, 2005
The three policemen found shot to death execution-style over the course of a few hot summer days in Rio de Janeiro had more in common than the circumstances of their deaths. Each of the men, importantly, had had sufficient cash to support a mistress and keep a separate apartment intended for their assignations--a sure sign that the officers had been on the take. Investigating their deaths and the corruption that may have led to the murders is the unhappy task of Detective Espinosa, chief of Rio's 12th district, a somewhat melancholy character who tries vainly to combat the encroaching boredom of his increasingly routine work by walking to and from his apartment by different routes.
Given its challenges, Espinosa's latest case provides at least a temporary respite from tedium, particularly when the mistresses of the dead policemen prove to be in peril themselves. Two of the three women are murdered at once, and Espinosa undertakes to protect the third. One woman's death--she falls from a tenth-floor window--is witnessed by a neighbor watching from her apartment across the street, a happenstance which provides the police with one of their few clues and gives author Garcia-Roza his book's title.
A Window in Copacabana, translated into English from the original Portuguese, is the fourth book in Garcia-Roza's Detective Espinosa series. The peculiar circumstances of the murders under investigation and the surprising identity of the killer make the novel a good mystery. But what sets the book apart is the mood it sets--the languid air of a city in the tropics--and the philosophical, bibliophilic Espinosa, whose character emerges slowly, without fanfare, as the story progresses. Mystery readers, and anyone enticed by a Copacabana setting, should give the series a look.
Reviewed by Debra Hamel, author of Trying Neaira: The True Story of a Courtesan's Scandalous Life in Ancient Greece
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5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A police crime story, Brazilian style, March 27, 2008
This review is from: A Window in Copacabana: An Inspector Espinosa Mystery (Inspector Espinosa Mysteries) (Paperback)
"A Window in Copacabana" is unlike any other police crime story; Inspector Espinosa is unlike other chiefs of precincts. The story is set in Copacabana, Rio de Janeiro in Brazil.
How this novel differs from others is its shocking absence of description. I have often heard readers say that they didn't complete certain books because of too much description or others say they skip it. On the other hand, I love description because it takes me into another place or another time. Without it, this novel could have been set in my city, except for the beach and the neighborhood names--Copacabana being the notable one. When Espinosa walks down the streets, I can picture certain streets in my city that have ethnic flair. This lack of description is certainly not a deleterious factor, but it is an odd one.
Written by "distinguished academic" Luiz Alfredo Garcia-Roza, the novel indeed reflects the academic mind in its studied logic and understated contemplative thinking demonstrated by Espinosa. In fact, the critic from Amazon likened Garcia-Roza's style to Hitchcock in the use of that subtle yet maddening building of suspense. The danger just oozes out from the pages, yet we never see it. The story ends with the guilty person evading punishment--for now. For we know Insp. Espinosa is on the case.
The story revolves around the murder, execution-style, of three ordinary, unobtrusive police officers, followed by the murder of two of their three mistresses. The third eludes murder by hiding and seeking Espinosa's help. (Perhaps the acquisition of mistresses with no one, not even the wives, blinking is a characteristic of Brazilian culture. This does not seem to be common in my city!)
Then the title character adds a new element to the investigation: she saw one of the mistresses being thrown out of her tenth floor apartment, which is just across the way from her tenth floor apartment. She also adds an element to Espinosa's life--she seduces him. Again, it is presented so matter of fact. To my surprise, all three women in the story kiss him fully on the mouth as if this is a normal greeting. The women include his longstanding lover with neither interested in marriage, Serena, the title character who witnesses this key murder from her window in the Copacabana neighborhood, and the last mistress, who tries to elude the assassin.
When I finished the book, I wasn't sure whether or not I would recommend it, but after writing this review, I see just how interesting the novel is and how it does reflect another culture and a police chief's way of solving a crime. It also shows, apparently, a different attitude toward capture of a criminal, especially one who killed police officers: all in due time. For those who find description an impediment to the forward progress of a crime story, this book was written for you.
Note: The book jacket shown above differs from mine, which depicts inside the window of the title and looking across the beach to that hill. The picture on my copy is much more subtle and effective.
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