There is a paella and fish place in El Cabanyal. They say it sells the best paellas in all of Valencia.
The guy who ran it was Pep Roures. Decent man. Distinctive ginger hair. Fifty years old with a paella dish tattoo on his left shoulder. He went missing for a week. It seemed strange because his award-winning restaurant was virtually his life and an institution in the city. How could he have simply vanish? Where would he go anyway? It just wasn't like him.
Word is that the Town Hall had been buying and tearing down the colourful fisherman's quarter on Valencia's sea-front for a redevelopment plan which Roures was very much against.
When Roures' bloated body washes ashore on to a public beach one week after his disappearance, Chief Inspector Max Camara of the Grupo de Homicidios finds himself with a case to solve, a case which proves as difficult and challenging as his thoughts, simply because he has nothing on it - no DNA, no witnesses, no suspects, no motive, nothing. As he delves deeper into the case, he stumbles into a web of corruption and violence and uncovers deep animosities and hidden secrets. There are rows and threats about abortion clinics - what is that all about?
Camara is forced to question himself as he plods along doing his job and if he were to let his doubts and scruples overwhelm him, this could well be his last case...
A Death in Valencia (2012), the second book in the Chief Inspector Max Camara series, delves into issues that rouse unruly passions and still divide the Spanish people today. With a complex plot, well-developed characters, vivid descriptions of Valencia on every page - including its people, food, culture, history - and simple yet accomplished writing, I personally thought this was a more enjoyable read than Camara's first case - the death of a bullfighter under mysterious circumstances.
A Death in Valencia was sent to me by the author. Because this book is about one hundred pages short compared to the first, I would urge the reader to read the debut - Or The Bull Kills You - first so as to get the best out of the series but the choice is of course in the hands of the reader.
About the author: Jason Webster was born near San Francisco, brought up in England and now lives in Valencia, the subject of his acclaimed books. These include Duende: A Journey in search of Flamenco (2003); Andalus: Unlocking the Secrets of Moorish Spain (2004); Guerra: Living in the Shadows of the Spanish Civil War (2006) and most recently Sacred Sierra: A Year on a Spanish Mountain (2009). He divides his time between Valencia and the mountains. Or The Bull Kills You (2010) was longlisted for the CWA Specsavers Crime Thriller Awards New Blood Dagger 2011.
Webster introduces his latest book:
Rating: 5/5
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