I thoroughly enjoyed The Neruda Case, set primarily in Chile around the 1973 coup. Pablo Neruda, nearing the end of his life, meets the main character, Cayetano Brulé, and convinces him to look for someone from his past for him. Cayetano has no experience as a PI, so Neruda hands him a stack of Georges Simenon novels and tells him to go to work, which I found hilarious.

The book was beautifully written. I've read so many mediocre novels lately, that this was a breath of fresh air. The historical aspect was especially interesting to me, since I don't know much about Chilean history. I hope the rest of Ampurero's novels are translated into English soon.

*I received this book for free through Goodreads First Reads.