December Heat: An Inspector Espinoza Mystery (Hardcover)

~ Luiz Alfredo Garcia-Roza (Author) "It wasn't the nasty words that woke the boy up late at night-he was used to sleeping with noise-but the banging on the cardboard box,..." (more)
Key Phrases: Avenida Copacabana, Forensic Institute, Maria Zilda (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

There are few crime story recipes more overdone than that involving a suspect who, for some reason, can't recall whether he or she committed murder. Yet Brazilian author Luiz Alfredo Garcia-Roza brings considerable spice to this device in December Heat, his second novel featuring the bookish and independent Inspector Espinosa.

Leaving a Rio de Janeiro restaurant one evening, retired cop Vieira Crisóstomo, too drunk to stay on his feet, is helped into his car by his prostitute girlfriend, Magali. In the process, he drops his wallet, which is promptly snatched up by a homeless boy. The next morning, Magali is found dead in her Copacabana apartment, naked, with a plastic bag over her head, and lashed to her bed by Vieira's belt. With liquor obscuring Vieira's memory of the previous night, yet every clue suggesting that he asphyxiated his lover, Espinosa tells the ex-officer, "the only reason I'm not arresting you is because I don't think you're stupid enough to accumulate so much evidence against yourself." But who else might have murdered Magali? And is there a link between that crime and subsequent homicides related to Vieira's missing wallet? Answering those questions will send Espinosa after drug traffickers and corrupt cops, lead to assaults on both him and Vieira, and leave the inspector vulnerable to seduction by Vieira's new mistress, Flor--a woman who boasts as many secrets as she does curves.

The leisurely pace of Garcia-Roza's tale reflects that of its sultry coastal setting. His characters vary between the hedonistic and the indigent, but are drawn with unfailing sympathy. Particularly captivating are this novelist's portrayals of women; in one instance, Espinosa tells a young painter here that "you have a navel that proves beyond the shadow of a doubt that God exists and that he's a sculptor." Like The Silence of the Rain, Garcia-Roza's first installment of his Espinosa trilogy, December Heat is a coolly delivered blend of the ominous and the sensual, hinting at what Oscar Hijuelos or Gabriel García Márquez might accomplish, were they ever to try penning detective fiction. --J. Kingston Pierce

From Publishers Weekly

In Brazilian Garcia-Roza's second meandering mystery to feature Inspector Espinosa (after 2002's The Silence of the Rain), an old friend, retired officer Vieira, calls on the taciturn Rio de Janeiro cop for help. Vieira has been tied-literally, in a sense-to the murder of a prostitute named Magali, found suffocated, her head in a plastic bag and her feet tied with Vieira's belt. Vieira doesn't deny that he spent time with Magali, but he was too drunk on the night in question to remember a thing. Another prostitute, Flor, decides to look after Vieira after he's brutally attacked, though that such a woman would commit herself to an old policeman on a pension is unconvincing. Espinosa starts tracking down leads, including a street kid who might have stolen Vieira's wallet. One boy living on the streets is set on fire; another has his head bashed in. It's clear that someone is desperate, but who and why remain unanswered questions. Meanwhile, Espinosa meets an attractive artist, Kika, and he struggles over the difference in their ages. Several beautiful literary turns of phrase are nearly lost in the extensive mechanical descriptions. The befuddling, sluggish plot, however, does finally stumble into an exciting ending.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 288 pages
• Publisher: Henry Holt and Co.; 1st edition (June 9, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0805068902
• ISBN-13: 978-0805068900
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.8 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.5 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,206,882 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Brilliant, November 23, 2004

By	Pipo Jones "bookworm" (PA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: December Heat: An Inspector Espinosa Mystery (Inspector Espinosa Mysteries) (Paperback)

Garcia-Roza has established himself as one of the most exciting authors of mystery novels in contemporary Brazilian literature. This book, originally entitled "Achados e Perdidos", is a testament to his good reputation. From the first page, the reader is drawn into to an all-too-real universe set in the city of Rio de Janeiro without any hope of exit before the final sentence in the book. The story starts with an intoxicated, retired policeman losing his wallet during an outing with his girlfriend, who happens to be a prostitute. The wallet is immediately picked up by a street boy, who from that point on is catapulted into a sequence of events that spirals out of control. The next morning, the girlfriend is found dead, tied to her own bed, and in the scene of the crime the ex-policeman's belt is found. Progressively, more and more unlikely participants slowly get pulled into a tight web where timelines, opportunities, and motives converge and diverge, at the same time. The prose is stylish and deep, and the story never stops surprising. All in all, an excellent book. (These comments apply to the original in the Portuguese language.)

6 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Trip to Rio, October 13, 2004

By	K. L. Cotugno (San Francisco, CA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

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This review is from: December Heat: An Inspector Espinosa Mystery (Inspector Espinosa Mysteries) (Paperback)

Although I probably will never travel to Rio de Janero, Garcia-Roza makes me feel as if I have been there. His sensual descriptions of the city and its people bring the city to life. The plight of the inner life of a street boy is poignantly realized, recalling the tragedy that unfolded in this year's fine documentary, Bus 174, which was more about the desperation of what it means to be a product of the streets, a sadly common phenomenon of Rio. Espinosa, Garcia-Roza's protagonist, is reminiscent of Inspector Montalbano in Andrea Camilleri's Sicillian series. Both have the same time worn quality, both love their food -- there are very sensuous descriptions of their meals, sometimes hilarious (as in Espinosa's consumption of a Big Mac on the Copacabana), but they both end up with answers to their puzzles and will hopefully expand on their experiences to us, their USA-bound fans.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Intriguing and worth a second read!, January 16, 2007

By	Lea Marie Ruiz-Ade "azure" (Santee, CA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

The prose is delightful, sensuous, and enticing. The attention to detail and nuance is captivating and yet never bogs you down. The author's intimate knowledge of his homeland allows non-Brazilian readers a glimpse into a complicated and unique world. Characters are often ambiguous -- you don't really know for sure if you should love or hate them. Garcia-Roza does not give the reader any more information than his characters are privy to. The reader is not privileged at all and can thus just go along for the ride. There are twists and turns and even experienced sleuths will be kept guessing about many things until the very end. I am glad I found Inspector Espinosa and look forward to investigating his other adventures.