Product Description

In a parking garage in the centre of Rio de Janeiro, young executive Ricardo Carvalho climbs into his car, takes a few drags of his cigarette and shoots himself dead. Handsome, rich and married to a beautiful wife, Ricardo seemed to have everything to live for. So why did he take his own life?

But when the police arrive at the scene, Carvalho’s death looks like a straight-forward case of robbery gone horribly wrong, since the victim’s gun and briefcase are nowhere to be found. And so Inspector Espinosa is called in to investigate. Not your typical detective, the world-weary Espinosa has the mind of a philosopher, the heart of a romantic, and enough experience to realize that things are not always as they seem.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #284947 in Books
• Published on: 2003-10-03
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 256 pages

About the Author

Luiz Alfredo Garcia-Roza was born in Rio de Janeiro in 1936, and still lives there today. He has an academic background in philosophy and psychology, and is a full professor at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro. The Silence of the Rain is his first novel and was honoured in 1997 with the Nestle and Jabuti prizes - the two greatest literature prizes given in Brazil. His most recent novel is December Heat, the second in the Espinosa series.

Customer Reviews

Beautifully written brazilian police novel
The book is an elegant police novel that takes place on the most famous brazilian town. The investigation lead by Inspector Espinosa is full of characters that look like real-life cariocas, as the Rio de Janeiro inhabitants are called.
For those who love a good police investigation, this is an excellent book. For those who know a little bit about Brazil it is a must. The realistic scenario depicted as well as the carefully built characters make The Silence of the Rain unique among other titles.

a big let down...
I had great hopes for this book but it was quite possibly one of the most disappointing books I have ever read. The images of Rio are good but you'll probably only fully appreciate it if you've actually been to Rio. It was a clever idea but hadled very carelessly by the author. The liaisons between the characters were not particularly convincing and the ending was just plain stupid and ridiculous.
Only read this book if you're nostalgic about images of Rio otherwise it is a complete waste of time.

OK, but could have been better
Think of Rio de Janeiro and you picture, sun, sea, samba and sex. Wealth mixed with dire poverty. Crime mixed with carioca and you get a potentially fascinating setting for a novel of any genre.
The back cover talked of "strong on atmosphere, short on idealism", so I picked this one up with a certain level of anticipation.
If you are a fan of books that use the geaography to their advantage and the ambience of the places leap out and grab you, then this one will be a disappointment.
Michael Dibdin masters the crime thriller with his Aurelio Zen character 'doing the rounds' in various Italian cities, sadly Garcia-Roza neglects this almost entirely. OK you get some romatically sounding street names, but they could be anywhere in a Portuguese or Spanish speaking country.
One point where the book scores, is where the entire novel switches from being in the 3rd person to the 1st person and then back again. This is achieved by splitting the book into 3 parts but keeping the same consistent timeline.
Frustratingly, the book fails to answer some of the questions that it generates in it's first chapter and the ending is marginally disappointing.
As crime fiction goes it was enjoyable, but if you want real characters in real places with atmosphere, then go read Mankell, Harvey or Dibdin, or ALL of them!!