Alone in the Crowd

by Luiz Alfredo Garcia-Roza

Book Overview

A HOUSTON CHRONICLE SUMMER READING PICK

A Rio de Janeiro Thriller

An elderly lady approaches the front desk at the Twelfth Precinct in Copacabana and demands to speak with the chief. Tired after a long day, she leaves without further explanation, promising to return. Two hours later, Do a Laureta is dead, and witnesses' accounts vary as to whether she was pushed or fell in front of the bus that killed her...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0312429886
• ISBN13: 9780312429881
• Release Date: May 2010
• Publisher: St. Martins Press-3PL
• Length: 240 Pages
• Weight: 0.70 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 5.4" x 8.4"

Customer Reviews

Was There a Crime?

An old widow-pensioner collects her monthly pension from the same teller at the same bank in the Copacabana area of Rio de Janeiro while exchanging a few ill-tempered words with him. Then she normally goes home. But this time she goes to the local 12th Police Precinct and, without revealing her reasons, demands to see the Chief (whom she does not know). Chief Espinosa is unavailable, and she says she will return later. Before she can do so, she dies under the wheels of a bus. Some of the many witnesses vaguely recall her stumbling forward as if she tripped---or was pushed. But no one actually saw anything wrong. Chief Espinosa thinks it is probably an accident, but orders some inquiries that prove more puzzling than revealing. Espinosa gradually realizes that the less than forthcoming bank teller, Hugo Breno, grew up in the neighborhood and was a childhood acquaintance of his. Early on the reader has seen Breno tailing the Chief, something that he has been doing for years. The police have misgivings, even suspicions, but no evidence. Espinosa himself is wrestling with very uncertain memories of his childhood; memories that he is certain are relevant to the case but which he cannot bring to focus. The book is well plotted and very smoothly written. The question is not "whodunit" but whether anything was done, and the uncertainty is maintained throughout. The characters are good and the police procedures are believable. The book, however, is not a realistic portrayal of the police in Rio unless the 12th Precinct is the only one in Rio that has nothing but honest and competent cops. This is a great and exciting read, but if you want a more realistic tale about police work in Brazil, try "Buried Strangers" by Leighton Gage.

base hit!

It is so refreshing to read a book that flows as easily as this one. I have read all of senor Garcia Roza's books and as usual this one delivers. Inspector Espinosa is the consumate everyman in this thriller that takes us into the mind of a second rate imitator of the great detective...just when you think there are no leads, evidence or clues someone introduces that one element that sets this ball rolling. I wish i could tell you more but i respect the authors vision too much. the title is very fitting and story unfolds charmingly....my favorite scene is a side tale, one taught with sexual tension and a plan that challenges fidelity and tension. but this book. i didnt give it five stars only because it wasnt as good in my opinion as "A Window in Copacabana." but just as suspenseful.

Another decent instalment

Another decent instalment in the Inspector Espinosa series set in Rio de Janerio. Like the previous books in the series, we have a well laid out Brazilian police procedural. Of course the setting's in the 12th Precint in Copacabana and we only get a whiff of the violence of the favellas and none at all of the murderous police death squads. It seems a little odd that you have such an honest policeman surrounded by other dedicated members of the force and not even the slightest taint of the corruption and extra judicial killings we read about. But I am willing to suspend my disbelief, go with the flow and enjoy the murder investigation unfold to it's pretty predictable conclusion.

super Brazilian police procedural

At a bank in Rio de Janeiro, pensioner Dona Laureta withdraws her money from the same teller Hugo Breno every month like clockwork. She leaves the bank, goes to the grocery and pharmacy, and then she travels to the police of the Twelfth Precinct in Copacabana. She asks to speak with the chief, but Espinoza is tied up in a meeting. She decides to leave and come back later, but instead is run over by a bus; bystanders believe she was deliberately pushed. The police interrogate Breno who remains a person of interest. Espinoza has him under surveillance. They learn he has no friends, conducts a fanatical physical exercise program, and walks in dense crowds without speaking to anyone. Espinoza is unaware that Breno has been watching him for decades and even came to the same park when they were children. A memory of a child's death makes the cop wonder if the teller was involved. They meet at a restaurant and Hugo tells his story to Espinoza. A day later Laureta's friend is killed. Espinoza is sure that Breno killed both women, but has no evidence. Both adversaries risk their lives with similar yet differing purposes. The translation of this novel is executed perfectly (by Benjamin Moser) so that the Brazilian customs come across full of life but different from America and especially how that impacts the way the police do their job in Rio. Ergo readers will feel they are in Brazil and not in their armchair. Inspector Espinoza is a good person doing a good job as he struggles with an investigation that contains a personal twist, but seems to be going nowhere though he is 100 percent positive Breno is the killer. The audience will admire the lead character and want to read his past cases (see BLACKOUT and PURSUIT) as the aptly titled ALONE IN THE CROWD is a super Brazilian police procedural. Harriet Klausner Harriet Klausner