Dark Echoes of the Past (Private Investigator Heredia)

It is a very interesting mix of detective story but at the same time is describing a very disturving time during chilean dictartorship period and the consequences for some persons and several families.

Heredia is a private detective working in Santiago. Things are slow until his girlfriend introduces him to Virginia, who wants him to investigate the death of her brother. The brother, Reyes, was killed in the course of a robbery, but Virginia thinks there is more to it. Heredia takes on the case and soon turns up the fact the Reyes was a political prisoner during the Pinochet regime. Things get murkier from there, as he seeks to unearth an ugly past that plenty of people would like to forget. This could have been quite a grim novel, but Eterovic manages to write with a light, almost breezy touch. Heredia loves to read, which enables the author to sneak in references to his favourite works. Heredia also discusses the case with his cat, who answers back and gives him advice. This is not your ordinary detective fiction; it's a skilful blend of noirish themes with a pacy and crisp narrative style and a touch of magic realism.

I chose this book from Kindle First hoping to find something a bit different - I was not disappointed! I was a little apprehensive about the translation from Chilean and there were some sentences that I felt could have been better worded but that really is a very minor point. I liked the steady pace of the story and warmed to the main character, Heredia, despite the slightly unusual concept of the dialogue with his cat. Heredia treads a path through the seedy underbelly of Santiago as he goes about his business but I fear for his lungs and his liver on account of the fact that if he's not smoking, he's most likely drinking! The subject matter, the former dictatorship and the associated brutalities, is one I'm not familiar with but it offers a good basis for the story. The manner in which the Melgoza character opened up/confessed was a little too convenient and accounts for the deduction of 1 star from my review. All-in-all, an enjoyable read.

Well paced and well constructed book based around a plot that reaches its inevitable conclusion with several interesting characters along the way. Hope to read more from this author.

Very good. Took me a bit of time to get into the story - the pace is a bit slow at times and the style of writing seemed a bit odd at first - maybe it is because of the translation. But I got into the rhythm of the story and was soon enjoying it considerably.