Hello mystery fans! I recently finished an excellent crime audiobook that left me thinking about mysteries that are either set in communities where you get to know a lot of the residents and/or mysteries set in a community where the community itself feels like a character. — as you’ve certainly already guessed — that’s what I’ve rounded up for you today. This surprises everyone, including Sportcoat who isn’t really aware he was responsible for the shooting and ends up with a price on his head for it. We follow the members of the community — including Colombian ants (yes, the actual insects) — after the shooting and get the history of so many characters — Latinx, white, Black, Italian — bringing not only this time period and place to life, but why Sportcoat shot Clemens, along with another mystery buried somewhere in the community…I can’t recommend this one enough: the writing is exceptional, the characters are fantastic, even though the subjects seem like it would make this a heavy novel it is not at all, and the audiobook is narrated by Dominic Hoffman who you may (should!) know as Whitley’s boyfriend from A Different World. (TW alcoholism/slurs/past child abuse/suicide) Twenty years ago, Vitoria, the capital city of Basque in Northern Spain, was terrified of a serial killer and his ritualistic killings. Now it seems the murders have started again — which is equally terrifying and baffling, seeing as the serial killer is in prison. He was an archaeologist brought forward by his twin brother who had been a police officer at the time of the killings. Dun dun dun! Now Inspector Unai López de Ayala “Kraken” has to figure out if the imprisoned serial killer has a new partner on the outside, or if they got it wrong all those years before… Come for the twisty serial killer mystery, stay for the tour of Vitoria, Spain. Bonus: García Sáenz has managed to write a sweet spot that I think will appeal to both fans of dark mysteries and not too dark mysteries by writing the content on the dark side, but leaving out the overtly unnecessary graphic details. Think Dan Brown’s Angels & Demons and The Da Vinci Code. If you’re wondering how much I enjoyed this, I immediately checked to see if my library had the following two installments in Spanish rather than waiting for the English U.S. releases. (TW child murders, not graphic/attempted suicide and suicide/partner, child abuse/nonviable pregnancy/date rape/past statutory not on page) I absolutely loved Virgil, the vigilante for hire, as he’s cleaned up his life but still struggles to find his place. He’s introspective, curious, and also listens. A great contrast in his partnership with his ex who has lived a privileged life and is also in different ways struggling to find her place. I also loved the balance of seeing many different characters’ lives, and voices, on and off the reservation. A great mystery with excellent characters — everything you want in a crime novel! (TW addiction/mentions suicides, one with detail/past rapes including children mentioned, not graphic/child death/pedophile, crimes off page/fat shaming)
