O silêncio da chuva

Delegado Espinosa #1

by Luiz Alfredo Garcia-Roza

Esta é uma edição anterior da mesma obra, com o
ISBN-10: 8571646120 e
ISBN-13: 9788571646124
Veja a edição mais recente aqui.

A morte misteriosa de um executivo no centro do Rio; um segundo assassinato com requintes de crueldade. Cabe ao bibliófilo inspetor Espinosa descobrir o nexo entre os dois crimes numa complexa investigação.

No centro do Rio de Janeiro um executivo é encontrado morto com um tiro, sentado ao volante de seu carro. Além do tiro, único e definitivo, não há outros sinais de violência. É um morto de indiscutível compostura. Mas isso não ajuda: ninguém viu nada, ninguém ouviu nada.O policial encarregado do caso, inspetor Espinosa, costuma refletir sobre a vida (e a morte) olhando o mar sentado em um banco da praça Mauá. No momento tem muito sobre o que refletir. De um lado, um morto surgido num edifício-garagem; de outro, a incessante multiplicação de protagonistas do drama. Tudo se complica quando ocorre outro assassinato e pessoas começam a sumir.

Prêmio Jabuti 1997 de Melhor Romance
Prêmio Nestlé de Literatura 1997

(fonte: editora)

Resumo de edições

- Primeira edição, 1996, 8 reimpressões
- Segunda edição, 2001, 3 reimpressões
- Terceira edição, 2004, 3 reimpressões
- Quarta edição, 2010
---Primeira reimpressão, 2016

(fonte: quarta edição, 1ª reimpressão do livro)

Genres: Mystery, Brazil, Fiction, Crime, Mystery Thriller, Portuguese Literature, Thriller

262 pages, Paperback

First published December 9, 1996

About the author

Luiz Alfredo Garcia-Roza is a Professor of Philosophy at Rio University in Brazil.

Series:
* Inspector Espinosa

Reviews

[Glenn Russell]

I'm thrilled to have discovered a Brazilian novelist so good that I plan to read and review all seven of his works translated into English over the next several weeks. His name is Luiz Alfredo Garcia-Roza (1936-2020). I found The Silence of the Rain, his first novel, an absorbing page-turner as well as outstanding literature on the level of Rubem Fonseca, Clarice Lispector, and Jorge Amado. Take a gander at my highlight reel focusing on a number of captivating features and colorful characters.

Opening Scene - On the first pages, we witness Ricardo Carvalho, age forty-two, an executive director of Planalto Minerações, as he finishes a cigarette while sitting in his car in a parking garage. He then rolls up the windows, opens his briefcase, takes out a gun, presses the barrel to his head, and pulls the trigger. Suicide. Thus, we as readers know something the police do not. This disparity of knowledge regarding Carvalho's death (someone removed the gun and briefcase, therefore the police assume it was murder) creates a most intriguing dynamic throughout the novel.

Inspector Espinosa - Our main character is a tall, lean, seasoned cop who tends to go with his intuition and instincts. Espinosa, a loner at heart, is no ordinary police officer – he's a literary man attuned to beauty. He would rather hunt down a translation of Herman Melville, Charles Dickens or Joseph Conrad at a used bookstore than hunt down a murderer. Also worth noting, Espinosa is divorced but doesn't dwell on his distant past; he much prefers to fantasize about developing a loving relationship with a beautiful woman. Ah, a romantic.

Unique Structure - The novel is divided into four parts. Part 1 is written in objective third person, allowing the author to establish and develop the unfolding drama on a broad canvas, moving from character to character, setting the tone and atmosphere. Parts 2 and 3 shift to first person, where, similar to Raymond Chandler's Philip Marlowe, we follow Espinosa as the inspector thinks and moves through the various happenings. Part 4 shifts back to objective third person as the frequently violent drama reaches its conclusion. Wow. Thank you, Luiz Alfredo Garcia-Roza. As we turn the pages, we're drawn deeper and deeper into the author's riveting tale.

Bea - Ricardo Carvalho's wife wasn't exactly close to her womanizing husband. These past years, Bia's energies have been much more focused on her creativity and art along with her highly successful art gallery. Thirty-four-year-old Bia isn't only a refined, educated, and cultured lady, she's a real looker who moves with the grace of a dancer. "Bia's beauty wasn't – not all of it – immediately obvious: its new and unrevealed facets were constantly coming to light." When Espinosa comes around to break the tragic news of her husband's death to Bia, do you think our inspector is attracted to this gifted, upper-class lady? Oh, yes, there's no doubt about it.



Max - “He'd lost his job more than a month earlier and hadn't managed to find another one. Even though he'd graduated from high school, he didn't have any real skills. He'd committed his first robbery out of desperation, but it was so easy – and so lucrative – that he didn't see any reason to go out and look for a job. So that's what he'd been doing for the last year.” Not only does Luiz Alfredo Garcia-Roza develop completely rounded, interesting characters, but, as with Max, the Brazilian author also folds in many sociological insights regarding what it is like to be poor in Rio.

Alba – Espinosa's investigations lead him to a gym where a young lady by the name of Alba spends her days working out (she's a part owner of the gym). After interviewing Alba, the romantic cop has much to reflect upon. “While he was driving, he compared the two women. Bia's looks were more aristocratic and her sensuality expressed in small details; Alba's were more wild and her sensuality, like the rest of her, explosive. Culturally, Bia's superiority was unchallenged, but emotionally, Alba seemed richer. Bia was surely more interesting; Alba, in spite of her extreme personality, was more straightforward yet still had a relaxing presence.” Espinosa's search for love adds a provocative tang to Garcia-Rosa's mystery novel.



Welber - “When Espinosa arrived, Welber was sauntering down the avenue of trees toward the art school. He looked like a vacationing student: polo shirt, sweater around his shoulders, jeans, sneakers. The look was only thrown off by his untucked shirt, which concealed the gun in his belt. Since the benches in the park were wet from the rain, they sat in the car.” Espinosa had always hesitated to work with or confide in any of the cops at his station. He was more inclined to team up with a young cop, a fresh addition to the force, someone who wasn't yet corrupted. Welber qualified – and this youngster had abundant energy along with being unusually perceptive. Espinosa's dealings with Welber count as a high point in the detective yarn.

Rio – From the office buildings, apartments, restaurants, and coffee shops to the beaches, parks, and streets, we can feel the vibrant pulse of Rio de Janeiro as we turn the pages. What a treat.



Kicker - Luis Alfredo Garcia-Roza proves himself a master in constructing a good mystery – narrative momentum, foreshadowing, red herrings, and, of course, a satisfying ending. And since the author spent a career as a university professor in a philosophy department, there's an ample helping of ideas radiating out from the brutally existential. An extraordinary novel not to be missed. Special thanks to Benjamin Moser for his excellent translation.


Brazilian author Luiz Alfredo Garcia-Roza, 1936-2020

[Teresa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Este livro é muito bom, mas não posso dizer porquê. Acontece que o li em Abril e já não me lembro de nada. A culpa não é minha mas do livro que, como todos os policiais, varreu-se-me da memória poucos dias depois de o terminar.

[Tânia Tanocas · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5🌟
"O que tem a ver um rico executivo de uma multinacional, uma velha pensionista da zona norte e um malandro carteirista do subúrbio? Nada, nem acidentalmente essas três pessoas cruzariam seus passos."

Acho que este parágrafo (retirado do livro) define bem (mesmo que pouco) o que esperar desta leitura, tudo ou nada...
O que era para ser um "simples" crime, transformou-se numa tentativa de lucrar uma grande quantia de dinheiro recorrendo a homicídios desnecessários...

O inspector Espinoza conquistou a minha admiração, além de ser um inspector honesto a trabalhar nas ruas do Rio de Janeiro, o seu amor e sensibilidade pelos livros não engana que ele é mais do que um mero policial...
Sem dúvida que quero e irei acompanhar a sua jornada de investigação.

Opinião completa em breve... :)

[Effie Saxioni · Rating 2 out of 5]

Η Σιωπή της βροχής, ήταν ένα μέτριο προς καλό αστυνομικό, με αρκετά καλή δομή και ροή. Είχε πολύ λίγη αγωνία, καθώς ο τρόπος που ήταν δοσμένα τα στοιχεία βοηθούσαν τον αναγνώστη να συνθέσει μόνος του το παζλ και να βρει τη λύση της υπόθεσης. Θα έπαιρνε εκεί γύρω στα τρία αστεράκια ✨, αλλά μετά ήρθε εκείνη η σκηνή της "εξουδετέρωσης" του δολοφόνου. Ε, και τώρα δεν ξέρω τι πρέπει να δώσω, 1 αστεράκι γιατί-εντάξει, έχει και η ανοχή τα όριά της, ή να δώσω 5 ✨ αφού ομολογώ πως μετά από 4 🚛 νταλίκες αστυνομικά,τέτοια πρωτότυπη εξουδετέρωση δεν είχα ματασυναντήσει;;;;; 😂
Μάλλον κλίνω προς το 1 με 2/5...

[Mariana Ferreira · Rating 2 out of 5]

Obrigada à Companhia das Letras e ao Netgalley pela cópia para resenha do livro!

O Silêncio da Chuva começa com um estouro: de cara, uma cena de suicídio, desorientando o leitor, que espera homicídios em romances policiais. A partir daí, a trama toma rumos inesperados por cerca de um terço do livro, mas a execução das diferentes linhas narrativas é, infelizmente, frustrante e insatisfatória.
Se, por um lado, é interessante a forma com que o Inspetor Espinosa se deixa levar por devaneios acerca das circunstâncias do crime - certamente em referência tanto ao autor, professor de Filosofia, quanto ao sobrenome do personagem -, por outro é difícil crer que certas possibilidades óbvias escapem a um suposto profissional com anos na polícia. Com menos da metade da leitura, já me parecia óbvio quem era o assassino, o que me deixou intrigada para saber como os demais personagens estariam envolvidos no desenrolar da história: como uma arma de Tchekhov, espera-se que, uma vez introduzido um elemento, ele venha a ter relevância posterior. Ledo engano: vários personagens são usados como distração pouco efetiva, mas abandonados sem nenhuma resolução com o desfecho da trama. Para completar, as referências a Bartleby, o Escrivão, de Melville, são soltas aqui e ali também sem qualquer reflexo real na história.
O clima noir e a ambientação no Rio de Janeiro dão charme à narrativa, mas é difícil fechar os olhos a uma série de problemas, como a cansativa caracterização das mulheres - todas, sem exceção, retratadas como objetos de atração sexual, mesmo a inteligência sendo mero fator extra de sedução -, as atitudes pouco realistas dos personagens e a bizarra conclusão do caso, com uma das cenas mais absurdas que já li num suspense. Uma pena que um livro que comece de forma tão promissora seja tão decepcionante.
Para quem tiver interesse em ler um noir realmente envolvente e inteligente, recomendo O Jardim de Bronze, do argentino Gustavo Malajovich.

[Moureco · Rating 4 out of 5]

Melhor, só Rubem Fonseca. Gostei muito. Quando não tiverem mais fonsecas para ler, leiam estes do Luiz Alfredo.

[Elizabeth (Alaska) · Rating 3 out of 5]

So, almost back to back, I found a mystery where the victim is one of suicide by gunshot. The reader knows this from the beginning. But in this novel, the police believe it to be murder, and justifiably. For one thing, there is no gun on the scene. No suicide victim removes the weapon and so the police never even consider suicide. Corroborating evidence of murder is that the man's wallet is missing, and they learn later there was also a briefcase which is also not found at the scene. A clear case of robbery and murder!

Some mystery authors take a bit of time to make their detectives more human. Donna Leon's Brunetti has a wife and children and we aften share a meal with them. Georges Simenon's Maigret is a big man, a pipe-smoker who is also married but after more than 20 years have no children. Rex Stout's Nero Wolfe is a confirmed bachelor but has his orchids to which he is dedicated.

I was taken to the detective early on. He is a reader!

Espinosa didn’t go back to the station by the shortest route; he went by the used-bookstore on Rua do Carmo first. He found a nice translation of The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby, by Dickens, in two volumes printed on coated paper, for less than the cost of the sandwiches and beers.

Since he was only a block away, he decided to stop by the used-bookstore on Rua do Carmo. He was taken with an old illustrated edition of Moby-Dick. It wasn’t anything rare or expensive, but it struck his fancy.

This is the first in the series and I believe also his debut. It isn't perfect. I noticed a couple of minor discrepancies as I was reading and there were a number of loose ends when the novel was completed. There is also a very graphic sex scene, which I will forgive because it isn't gratuitous, but I wouldn't look forward to such having a regular presence in the series. I'll be happy to read the next, just to see. For me, this is a strong 3-stars.

[Rita · Rating 2 out of 5]

2,5 ⭐️

Este é o primeiro romance do carioca Luiz Alfredo Garcia-Roza, e também o primeiro da série cujo protagonista é o Delegado Espinosa.

Normalmente num romance policial passamos boa parte da narrativa à procura de quem cometeu o crime. N’O Silencio da Chuva nós leitores estamos sempre two steps ahead, sabemos toda a verdade desde as páginas iniciais, e o Delegado Espinosa é que anda, a história toda, à procura de desvendar o mistério.

Espinosa não é o típico policial: ele gosta de ler, é assíduo frequentador de alfarrabistas, é bem-educado e por vezes gosta de filosofar. Ambientado na cidade do Rio de Janeiro leva-nos a percorrer as ruas do centro - da Praça Mauá, passando pelo Flamengo, pelo Jardim Botânico e por Copacabana.

Embora bem escrito acho que precisava de um mistério mais elaborado e estimulante. É uma leitura descomprometida mas que não deixa grandes memórias.

[Lukasz Pruski · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had high hopes for Luiz Alfredo Garcia-Roza's "The Silence of the Rain", the first book in a crime trilogy by a Brazilian author, a "distinguished academic", and "a critically acclaimed bestselling novelist". Alas, it is a rather standard crime novel, a cross between police procedural and psychological mystery. Contrary to the hype on the back cover that screams "[it] is the kind of mystery that lingers in the mind long after you've finished reading", the novel is completely unremarkable, outstanding in its averageness. Except for one thing... But let's save the best for the conclusion of this review.

An executive director in a large company is found dead in a car in a parking garage. Inspector Espinosa is heading the investigation. The plot becomes more and more complicated and other people die as well. In an effort to make the central character interesting, the author gives him a strange trait - the good inspector collects books and keeps them in tall piles in his otherwise empty apartment. Unfortunately, this does not make Espinosa any more interesting, and his characterization feels paper-thin. Other characters are portrayed a bit better, and some, like Alba, actually feel real.

One of the major disappointments is that the author has not been able to convey the feel of the location. The events happen in Rio de Janeiro, yet they could as well occur in Lisbon, or in Paris. The author is generous with the names of streets or places: Ipanema, Copacabana, etc. are mentioned on almost every page, but these are just words. They do not convey any sense of the place. I cannot find any Brazilianness in the novel. Certain naïveté in showing police work and affairs of the heart has not bothered me that much. On the other hand, the premise is intriguing, and the plot rather interesting, even though I was sure of the identity of the perpetrator when I was about 70% into the novel.

However, nothing could prepare me for the ending. It is so unexpected and funny that I could not believe that I was still reading the same book. The penultimate scene is so hysterically hilarious, and its tone is so different from the stolid tone of the rest of the book that it is well worth to suffer through this mediocre, two-star novel. I think I will read another book by Mr. Garcia-Roza just to see whether he manages to pull a similar stunt.

Three stars.

[Nora Rawn · Rating 4 out of 5]

My last book of 2021! A fun one. (I liked this so much more than the Leonard Padura mysteries). Another philosophical detective, a lone uncorrupted investigator, with the classic noir thing of an affair with someone from his case. I really enjoyed it although the reveal does not really make sense. But if one goes with it, all is fine!

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

You never quite know what the reality is when reading Garcia-Roza. This is the second book I've read by him (first in the series) and I enjoyed it much more than the fourth in the series. This was a page turner with the bibliophile police inspector Espinosa hooking up with an athletic woman who might be a suspect and also being attracted to the rich, intellectual widow of the victim. At times Espinosa must appear Columbo like to his suspects and witnesses. Garcia-Roza is a philosophy professor in his real life when not writing this series and it comes through in the character of Espinosa. Lots of contemplative moments with Espinosa as he walks and re-walks the streets of his youth and battles boredom and danger. Some great lines here: "The rest of the day didn't add a single comma to the story of my life." This was very noirish too. Espinosa reminds me of other fictional police inspectors like Mankell's Wallender and Rankin's Rebus in that he is alone and rather bored with life. But unlike the other two who seem possessed by work, Espinosa has his books, microwave, and beer to get him through the weekend. The ending of this book is truly bizarre and kinky.

[Glenda · Rating 4 out of 5]

I finished this book yesterday. I was all geared up to really love it. Five sparkling stars love it. However, a gratuitous sex scene near the end of the book that had absolutely nothing to do with the plot bumped it down to 4* The participants were two strangers. I didn't get why it was thrown in.😩. In spite of that, its a great mystery. Short chapters and not at all what you expect. Well worth reading.

Do yourself a favor and read Glenn’s review. It's the reason I even know about this author.

[Rob Kitchin · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed The Silence of the Rain; it’s a solid and intriguing police procedural. Espinosa is a thoughtful, world weary character who reminded me somewhat of Morse. The pace is well judged, the characterisation sound, there is a strong sense of place as the characters move around Rio, and the story has some nice twists. Split into three parts, the first and third parts are written in the third person, the middle part in the first person, putting the reader in the mind of Espinosa. It was a little jarring to swap from one perspective to another, but it actually works well. My only real issue relates to the start and particularly the end which kind of fell apart and was poorly resolved. In short, I was left with very big questions unanswered, which was pretty frustrating given that for the most part this is solid storytelling (and I imagine this will cheese some people off a lot more than it did me). I don’t want to give any spoilers, so I’ll leave it that. On balance, an enjoyable story, the first is a series of seven Espinosa novels

[Maddy · Rating 4 out of 5]

PROTAGONIST: Inspector Espinosa
SETTING: Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
SERIES: #1 of 8
RATING: 3.75
WHY: Executive Ricardo Carvalho calmly goes to his car, smokes a cigarette and then shoots himself. A nearby felon approaches the car and steals the gun and a briefcase that turns out to have quite a bit of cash in it with a letter asking the police to take the money and report his suicide as a murder for insurance purposes. The police, led by Inspector Espinosa assume that Carvalho has been murdered and proceed to investigate looking for his killer. Espinosa is more of a philosopher type, and it's refreshing to see the challenges he faces based on false assumptions. There are a few plot weaknesses; but on the whole, the setting, characters and overall plot make up for those.

[Felipe Ambrosio · Rating 2 out of 5]

Um livro que seria muito interessante se escrito por uma mente mais jovem, livre de tanto preconceito.

À medida que a trama vai se desenrolando, os personagens vão se mostrando cada vez mais bidimensionais, frutos da mente dum homem branco carioca nascido nos anos 30. A cena final é, apesar de inesperada, ridícula e digna da imaginação de um usuário do 4chan. Uma cena, inclusive, que não faz sentido algum. L

Não vale o tempo que gastei.

[Tien · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm blown away by that ending! Both disgusted but yet admiring of such courage... I don't think I could. We are told by the description what happened at the beginning, a suicide, which was complicated when no weapon nor letter was found. As the police hunted for a murderer, others were conspiring for something else. The ultimate motive, of course, was money. Or was it? The ending while conclusive on one point was also openly inconclusive on another.

The character of Inspector Delegado Espinosa would appeal to all readers all over the world:
1. he always visits a bookstore just because he's in the area -there was one point that he resisted but he already made a note to visit another time
2. spends his weekend rearranging his book stacks
3. his penchant for Dickens
4. a daydreamer
5. luuuurrrrvveesss coffee
I may have just described myself...

I love his philosophy on tidying up too -"The books piled up against the wall bore witness to my efforts to cooperate with the cleaning lady. There was probably some charm in the mess of the apartment: the disorder did not simply reflect the lack of order; it distorted normal ideas of order."

While the novel is of police-procedural persuasion, I feel it tends to the noir side of things with corruption being rife in the precinct, the twists and turns of the plot, the beautiful but deadly women, and of course, that ending. Highly recommended for Dashiell Hammett's fans or any crime noir readers.

[Jan vanTilburg · Rating 3 out of 5]

An intriguing mystery, with an unlikely, underwhelming conclusion. Which did not make sense to me. A real pity for an otherwise good story.

It's a slow pace investigation. But never boring to read.
In the first chapter we witness the event that triggers an investigation that from the start sets off on the wrong foot.

What makes this a great read is the main character: Inspector Espinosa: "[..], he let his ideas weave their own web." [..] "It seemed he was incapable of sustained rational thought - a failing that, for a policeman, was embarrassing, to say the least."
This is how our detective Espinosa is introduced. Not a run of the mill detective. That's what I like.
"He wasn't a stranger just to his collegues but to everything -- he inhabitedn a different space and time." (p.216).
Never corrupted. And the mere mention of this casts a doubtful light on the Rio police. That's the environment he needs to work in.

p.123, about being a policeman: "He'd list a lot of his old preconceived notions. He hadn't arrived at any visible truth and was constantly enlarging the part of his mind where he stored doubts."

p.181, about a concious life: "I don't like to turn myself off for too long-- there's always the risk that I'll get used to it. I think everyone's born on automatic pilot: only a few people eventually take over the controls."


written: 1996.
Luiz Alfredo Garcia-Roza: 1936 - 2020.

[Lucas Lanza · Rating 3 out of 5]

Um livro interessante, mas também controverso. O Autor inicia a trama muito bem, prendendo a atenção com os múltiplos pontos de vista que permeiam o crime central à narrativa. Com o avançar do enredo, algumas coisas vão ficando caricatas (exaltando o machismo e conservadorismo típicos de alguém nascido na década de 1930, como o autor) e outras vão ficando confusas. O Narrador Onisciente parece se perder entre tantos fatos e fluxos de consciência que deve expor. Em 1997, o livro provavelmente merecia todos os prêmios que ganhou. Hoje, por conta dos diálogos expositivos e das relações machistas, talvez nem seria publicado.

[Erika · Rating 4 out of 5]

Primeiro livro que leio deste autor. Ótimo romance policial com o inspetor Espinosa. Muito bem escrito, deve ter passado por um monte de revisões. Gostei do lanche carioca preferido dos policiais no livro, cerveja com sanduíche de pernil, e da palitada nos dentes em seguida. Referência à Carta Roubada (The Purloined Letter) do Poe. Inverossimelhança: Espinoza é um detetive carioca que lê literatura clássica e gasta seu dinheiro em sebos com livros de Joseph Conrad, Charles Dickens, Hermann Melville. Duvido!

[Sally Sugarman · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a mystery that takes many turns. The reader witnesses the first death. What is the big mystery? By the time the police arrive on the scene, however, things have changed dramatically. Throughout the book things keep changing with two more deaths. Meanwhile, the narrative shifts. We meet different characters who offer their perspectives. The book shifts from third person to first and then back to third. When Inspector Espinosa begins to hanker after the wife of the first dead man, one wonders if this is typical of Latin police officers since there was a similar pattern in a mystery set in Cuba. Plus both officers are middle aged and divorced. Espinosa is an interesting character, however, who likes to buy books, even if he doesn’t yet have bookcases for them. He is experienced and follows up on the first leads successfully. His interviewing style is pleasant and low key, instilling trust in the witnesses. Still as the story unfolds, it becomes more and more bewildering. The inspector likes to consider all different possibilities. However, new developments keep challenging his ideas. There are not many people Espinosa can trust in the department, but he has one assistant Welber, with whom he works and whom he trusts. When Welber is shot by the man they are pursuing, the danger intensifies. Where is the dead man’s secretary? Why are certain people being followed? There comes a point when it is impossible to put down the book. There are a restricted number of suspects. There are missed telephone calls. Who has been listening to the messages on Espinosa’s home answering machine? We get some sense of the city of Rio, but we are so focused on the crimes, the city fades into the background. We don’t understand the motives for the murders and disappearances since the reader knows what happened at the beginning even if the inspector doesn’t. However, after that initial advantage the reader is a confused as the inspector. This is an inspector worth reading about again, thanks to a skillful author..

[Maria Raquel · Rating 1 out of 5]

1.5
Até quase o final ia dar 2.5 porque apesar da escolha de palavras truncadas e sem fluidez de ritmo que fizeram a leitura andar em trancos, o mistério sobre a resolução da história parecia intrigante a ponto de me prender até o final.
Porém, o "clímax", a resolução, é apresentado de forma desinteressante, abrupta, mal projetada narrativamente falando. Em palavras claras: o livro é mal escrito.
Fora isso, fazia tempo que não lia uma história TÃO MACHISTA quanto essa. O personagem principal fantasia sobre todas as mulheres que encontra, transa com uma pensando em outra... a narrativa trata suas personagens femininas como objetos, receptáculos de fantasias masculinas e apenas escadas para as narrativas dos homens.
O livro também apresenta uma das cenas sexuais mais nojentas e desrespeitosas que já tive o desprazer de tomar conhecimento desde que assisti o filme O Animal Cordial. E mesmo no filme, havia um contexto para tal cena. No livro não há: uma mulher sequestrada, pasmem, para se salvar, decide transar com o sequestrador até matá-lo... depois dessa, não tenho mais nada a acrescentar...
O pior é que o livro tinha tudo para ser uma das melhores leituras do ano com essa ambientação noir anos 1990, uma das únicas partes que realmente gostei e que provavelmente é o motivo dessa 1 estrela. A outra meia é porque, apesar de machista no trato com as mulheres que o rodeiam, gostei de Espinosa, que se apresenta como um policial "sensível" e tranquilo. Bem possível um dia dar outra chance a ele em uma história um pouco mais interessante...

[DROPPING OUT · Rating 4 out of 5]

As I got into The Silence of the Rain, I thought I had yet another "wounded soul" sort of police inspector that within the police procedural we have a sub-genre that includes Morse, Ohayon, Vaara, et al. But wait, aside from the fact that he is divorced and is addicted to used book stores, the reader finds out precious little about Espinosa the person. Or at least significant to warrant comparing to other police detective protagonists.

And I found myself somewhat bemused by other reviewers' writing about Garcia-Roza sense of place. Sure, he described the changing weather of Rio de Janeiro, a few references to tropical flora, and a constant dropping of the names of streets, plazas, and a few government buildings, but otherwise I got no "sense of place" as I get of Morse's Oxford, Ohayon's Jerusalem, or Vaara's Helsinki. Indeed, the plot is so "geographically-neutral" that I can see the same plot playing out equally well in Tokyo, Moscow, or Boston.

Much of the book is Espinosa's speculating scenarios as to "who is doing what to whom" regarding the death of a Rio businessman, his never realizing how far off base he was. But this is often the nitty-gritty of detection, so Espinosa can be excused.

The identity of the elusive mystery person Espinosa is not revealed to the penultimate page, exposing to Espinosa himself all the red herrings he had created. While a few threads are left dangling, they are perhaps irrelevant to a very satisfying ending.

[Chris · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 I guess. Everything about this novel was well done, from the transition midway to first person to the second transition back to third for the finale. The finale itself though....I kind of guessed the killer midway through but the motive was left unsaid and how he gets caught/killed...either way this novel was phenomenal in my opinion and I want to read the rest

[Kamakana · Rating 2 out of 5]

a little better than ok. i guess crime fiction has international cliches, though these are treated with more sincerity than usual. interesting only in that it is set in brazil, everything else, not in a bad way, comfortable, familiar.

[Stacy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wasn't a masterpiece, but I really enjoyed it anyway.

[Hermien · Rating 5 out of 5]

A thoroughly enjoyable, well-written crime novel. It is well plotted with surprising twists and turns and a very sympathetic Brazilian police inspector.

[Nat · Rating 3 out of 5]

For almost all of this book I was thinking this was a solid four star enjoyable read and then the last three chapters are like ????? what???? Makes no sense? No explanation at all? Massive confusion and bewilderment? Where's the rest of the book where things actually get resolved?

I liked our cop main character and I thought the book struck a pretty decent balance between the procedural aspects and more psychological/thoughtful/daily life bits. The story proceeds at a pretty good clip and we get an interesting cast of characters. Possibly the biggest oddness is that the brutality of some of the murders doesn't seem to really match the overall tone of the book -- I was pretty taken aback when Rose's mom is tortured to death because the book up to that point had seemed more Agatha Christie-esque and that was a pretty dark turn. The bad guy is pretty clear early on so I didn't have a ton of suspense but I was still mostly having a good time reading.

And then the ending??? I mean, what? The bad guy somehow dies during sex after a really explicit sex scene that seems to come out of nowhere? He suffocates? It makes no sense at all 😭😭😭. And then the book just ends with absolutely no explanation whatsoever. I agree that it makes sense that the insurance guy was doing the killing because he was really the only one with a motive to get the note, since he wanted the Carvalho's death to be declared a suicide so the insurance company didn't have to pay out. But how did he know there was a note in the first place? The only thing that makes sense is that Rose tries to blackmail the insurance company into giving her half in exchange for the note but 1) we never actually get told that she did this and 2) I guess that means she gives them her real name and her address when she does it for some godforsaken reason since then he goes and kills her mom. This makes absolutely no sense. Not to mention, Carvalho I suppose kicks off this whole fake-murder suicide thing just for the laughs, since there's never any real explanation for it. The only reason I could hazard a guess to is so his wife could get the insurance money, except it's clear that he was a selfish guy who never really cared much about her, and also that she's independently rich and didn't care that much about the money. So why??? And why did he even kill himself in the first place? I understand that in a suicide you don't always fully understand the reason but the book never even comes close to bothering to provide an explanation.

Just a completely bizarre ending that makes no sense and leaves a bunch of loose ends up in the air. Really strange reading experience all around.

[Jim · Rating 5 out of 5]

In both Luiz Alfredo Garcia-Roza novels I have read, there are multiple seemingly connected crimes that are bewildering in their complexity. In the case of The Silence of the Rain, it all begins with a suicide which looks very much like a murder when someone makes off with the suicide weapon and the goods of the deceased. Then there is the disappearance of the deceased's secretary, the murder of the secretary's mother, and seeming threats to the widow and a pretty gym owner with whom Inspector Espinosa forms an attachment. And before long, it is our detective who himself is under threat.

Garcia-Roza stage-manages the events very competently so that, at the very end, when the murderer is revealed, it was a complete surprise to me.

[Karalee Coleman · Rating 3 out of 5]

First volume in the Delegado Espinosa series. Well, Inspector Espinosa is certainly not Sherlock Holmes. He’s more like Walter Mitty, engaged in a series of fantasies. Some are erotic, involving the women in the story. Some are attempts to figure out how the central mystery of the story might have transpired. Most of them are way off-target. He does not manifest the focused mental life of Baruch Espinoza, his namesake.

His behaviour in the story is more like PacMan than, say, Inspector Dalgliesh. He roams around the streets of Rio Janeiro, often in search of something to eat, occasionally pursued by bad guys. The streets are described in extreme detail, every intersection and turning, every bodega and business, lacking only GPS co-ordinates.

Meanwhile, the mystery unfolds from several different points of view, often going in unexpected directions. It’s a fascinating series of misadventures by nearly everyone. Oddly, I found it to be a lot of fun! All the characters including Inspector Espinosa are equally surprised by the denouement.

The translation from the Portuguese, by Benjamin Moser, is brilliant. It’s colloquial and correct, and reads as if the novel had been written in English. I often find translations to be somehow flat, lacking the liveliness that might have been present in the original language. This one doesn’t suffer from that problem. On the other hand, I haven’t a clue what the title refers to. Maybe it has some relevance in Portuguese.

[Rebecca · Rating 3 out of 5]

As a crime novel this felt different, definitely on the more literary end of the scale with a plot that was taut and convoluted but definitely plausible. However then there was the ending which was completely left field and, quite frankly, both ludicrous and tasteless. I don’t actually know where that leaves me in my appreciation for the book overall. Maybe it’s just a bit of a marker of its times (or ours - the world has changed a lot in thirty years)… I think I’d still be tempted to pick up one of the author’s books again but at the moment there is rather a question mark hanging over the whole experience.