My Five Word TL:DR: Noir isn’t Even My Thing

…and yet this author seems to make everything she touches entertaining, easy to read and quite compelling.

I will also point out that this story has no fantasy elements, it isn’t gothic or horror in nature and there isn’t so much as a drop of magical realism. Set in the 1940s this is a tale of a con man, hoping to score one last job that will set him up for life, taking a big chance by moving to a sleepy village where he hopes to marry a wealthy woman

Ulises Linares has been operating small time scams on lonely women since his father passed away. The two always worked together but Ulises, although he came up trumps in the looks department, doesn’t quite have the same instincts and since his father’s demise his situation has gone from bad to worse. He’s been running ads in the lonely hearts rags, forming acquaintances with gullible women and then emptying their bank accounts, but he was almost caught and is keen to disappear from the city for a little while, he has little money left, a few odds and sods that give him the appearance of being ‘well heeled’ and a lead in the form of a spinster called Perla who has invited him to come to stay at her family home turned guest house.

Of course, when Ulises arrives the guest house is rather dilapidated, clearly the family have fallen on hard times and so Perla may not in fact me the wealthy mark he expected, on top of which she has a niece living with her who isn’t shy and enjoys prying into Ulises affairs.

Okay, I’m not going to go into the plot for this one as you simply need to read it for yourself. Instead lets look at what I liked.

To be honest the real joy of this book comes down to the writing and the three main characters, and, well, some of the absolutely batpoop crazy decisions they make.

I will confess that when I first picked this up I found everything a little slow and, as I mentioned in my ‘short’ review noir is not something that I read a lot of. However, this book is one of those slow creepers that gets under your skin and makes you itch to return to it whenever you put it down. As the story started I thought I had a grip of what to expect but the tables really turn in a most unexpected way and the characters back stories all start to squirm out of the woodwork adding these extra layers of depth. I really didn’t expect to have any sympathy with either Ulises or Perla’s niece, Inés. In fact, although Perla comes across as very controlling and quite harsh at times, I expected to have sympathy for the lonely spinster who both her niece and would-be husband are plotting against, but ultimately I didn’t have any sympathy for her at all.

The characters are really easy to picture. Ulises is good looking, confident, charismatic. His smile wins people over quite easily, usually. Perla is not, however, going to be a pushover. She has some very clear ideas about proper behaviour and respecting her family name and legacy. For Ulises time and money are running out fast and he’s out of ideas in terms of Perla.

Inés is a very intriguing character. I mean, I don’t want to tell you too much about her because the real beauty of this story is the reveals about the three main characters. She is living with her aunt under duress – on both parts. Her aunt sees Inés as her carer in her old age, for which she will eventually inherit the dusty family home. There is nothing if not a lot of resentment.

Meanwhile Perla runs the household with an iron rod. She knows every penny, and in fact there’s a good deal of penny pinching. she enjoys having the attentions of a young attractive man, particularly in terms of the gossip round the village and the jealousy it incites in a would-be suitor who has been hoping to marry Perla and combine their assets.

The sleepy village of Puerco Ahogado in Veracruz is so easy to fall into. There aren’t plenty of descriptions but the place comes alive. There are just these little shout outs to all the local traditions, the restraints on behaviour and the gossiping that ensures people are scared to step a foot out of line. There’s plenty going on here. People being lovestruck, petty jealousies, so much bickering and talking behind closed doors. It’s positively deliciously claustrophobic.

And, finally, did I mention some crazy decision making? Wow, just wow. These people. What the actual fudge cake is going on. There was no working things through, giving things time to develop. Actual planning? Nah. What ifs? Not a chance. I love it. This was so wrong it was right. I was like ‘WHAT’, my mouth gaping open like a fish, for a good deal of the time.

In conclusion, this might not be my favourite book by the author. But, given that it had it’s work cut out by falling into a genre that I don’t usually plump for and that my usual comfort zone of fantasy was missing it did a fine job of pulling me in and keeping me eager to return. Seriously, this has this pulpy, noir, historic, crazy scheming no-idea-where-it’s-going-to-go feel that kept me turning the pages.

I received a copy through Netgalley, courtesy of the publisher, for which my thanks. The above is my own opinion.

My rating 4 of 5 scheming stars