FICTION

The Invisible Guardian

Atria. Mar. 2016. 384p. tr. from Spanish by Isabelle Kaufeler. ISBN 9781501102134. $24.99; ebk. ISBN 9781501102158. F
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OrangeReviewStarAn international best seller and short listed for the CWA International Dagger Awards, Redondo's exciting first installment in the Baztán trilogy brings readers deep into Basque country in northern Spain. The novel opens with a suspected serial homicide case forcing Insp. Amaia Salazar to return to her hometown. The suspect is killing young women in a particularly bizarre fashion and leaving them posed in such a way that locals begin to tell tales of the mythological creature the basajaun, the invisible guardian, protector of the innocent. Working across superstition, tradition, and mythology, Amaia bumps up against her family's surprising connections to the victims as well as the deeply buried past determined to haunt her. Political complications mar the case, and Amaia isn't sure whom she can trust; her nightmares steadily increase as the body count picks up.
VERDICT The Basque backdrop gives this thriller an especially intriguing layer of depth; the superstitions and mythologies passed down from the days of the Spanish Inquisition penetrate the mystery to such an extent that the reader is easily transported. The tenuously balanced level of sustained uncertainty is magnificently realized. The next two books in the series should be highly anticipated. [See Prepub Alert, 10/6/15.]
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