La sangre de los ángeles

Ricardo Cupido #3

by Eugenio Fuentes

Aturdido por el abandono de su mujer, Julián Monasterio vive solo con su hija Alba, una niña en exceso callada a la que cuida de modo entrañable. Al morir su madre, recibe en herencia, entre otros objetos, una pistola cuya procedencia resulta intrigantes. Más misteriosamente aún, la pistola desaparece de la caja fuerte de un banco donde estaba despositada.

Genres: Spain, Mystery

380 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2001

About the author

Eugenio Fuentes (born 1958 in Montehermoso, Cáceres), is an acclaimed Spanish novelist. Two of his novels have been translated into English, the crime novels The Depths of the Forest and The Blood of the Angels, both published by Arcadia.

Series:
* Ricardo Cupido

Reviews

[Lukasz Pruski · Rating 3 out of 5]

"[...] if something couldn't be solved with thoughts and words, then it couldn't be solved with a gun."

Eugenio Fuentes' Blood of the Angels (2001) is a good read: a solid, quiet, slow-moving psychological crime novel. It features mostly believable characters with rather plausible motives, and occasionally offers neat pearls of wisdom like the sentence quoted above. I quite like the book, for several reasons: first, while it is indeed a crime novel, the crime is not in the forefront of the plot: it just serves as a sort of background for a readable book about people; I got quite interested in learning more about them.

Further, even if - as I understand - the novel is an entry in Mr. Fuentes' series that features private investigator Ricardo Cupido, he is by no means the main character in the plot: the reader spends much more time with other characters. In general, I do not like series novels because of their maddening repetitiveness about the main character: if I have to read the twenty-third novel featuring Kinsey Millhone, or the thirtieth one with Alex Delaware, I would like these novels to focus completely on other characters and omit the same old same old Millhone/Delaware stuff. So - unless another book in the series proves me wrong - I will continue reading Ricardo Cupido stories because I hope they are not really about him at all.

Julián Monasterio's wife left him, his mother has just died, and his six-year-old daughter whom he raises alone seems to be unable to cope with the adversity. Among the objects that Julián's mother left is a pistol that once belonged to his father. Instead of taking it to the police or hammering it to render it useless, Julián leaves it in his bank safe, which he forgets to lock securely. It is not difficult to guess that the stolen gun is used to cause another human tragedy. The murder happens in a school and the teachers and staff are under police investigation. Julián hires Mr. Cupido to find the gun and the murderer.

Although a good read, the novel is hardly a great one. Some characterizations are close to caricatures; also, I have been bothered by a feel of unsophisticated innocence permeating the text: for instance, it is hard to believe that a middle-aged educated man would be so naive as to be surprised that people change, that they become different people over time, and that he would ask "[...] how was it possible for such unspoken hostility to come about between a man and a woman who fifteen years ago had loved and desired and admired each other [...]". Other readers may find the naiveté charming and sweet, so I recommend the book with minor reservations.

Three stars.

[Ann Tonks · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love the way the author creates so many interesting characters and that you go into their worlds and their minds. The mystery at the heart of the book is almost secondary to the richness of the characterisation. Set amongst school teachers in a Spanish town, this is a book worth reading.

[Rafa Aguirre Ezquerra · Rating 3 out of 5]

Es más un retrato costumbrista que una novela de misterio. El papel de Ricardo Cupido apenas tiene protagonismo (y el que tiene, sobre todo en la parte final es lo que menos me convence) pero en general es una trama bien hilvanada, donde priman las historias de los personajes que la integran y con un resultado aceptable.

[hugo van der wildt · Rating 3 out of 5]

Een zeer vreemde kaft die niets over het verhaal vertelt.
Ook de titel laat ook niets los.
Een slordigheid/fout geeft aanleiding tot chaos.
Om uit de problemen te geraken neemt de persoon een PI onder de arm.
Spijtig dat er soms veel aandacht is voor de relatie onder de personage die het verhaal vertragen.

[Dayanna Katherine Reyes Copajita · Rating 5 out of 5]

Un fantástico libro, con una trama muy interesante y un final inesperado.

[Ansie de Swardt · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm quitting this book. It is just tedious. No thrills in the storyline, absolutely no tension, dull characters. Perhaps much got lost in translation from this Artgentinian author.

[Iblena · Rating 3 out of 5]

Para quienes seguimos las andanzas de Ricardo Cupido, este es reconocido como un hombre sereno, reflexivo y discreto cuyos logros están mas ligados al empleo de la palabra que al uso de las armas y no exento del halo de romanticismo que acompaño a mas de un detective literario …ahora hay que añadirle la habilidad de hacerse invisible pues en la Sangre de los ángeles es menos que un personaje secundario. Buen retrato psicológico de los personajes y de su entorno, pero carente de la intriga que se espera encontrar en una historia de detectives.

Frases para recordar:

“Lo malo de la muerte no es que ocurra; lo malo es que nunca elige a aquellos que estamos deseando que se mueran.”.

[M M · Rating 3 out of 5]

Eugenio Fuentes is a writer of slow-burning fiction peopled with characters described with a tender sympathy. The most tragic of them have a dignity that shines through the vicissitudes of their fortunes. In The Blood of Angels, these qualities are visible in ample quantities.

[Lera · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nice to read a bit of decent crime fiction, especially from a Spanish author. A lost gun is used to kill someone in a small town.

Picked this up 2nd hand in Girton. Giving it to the CCF bookswap.