Why a Booktrail?
2000s: A good police based novel and evokes the location very well of Rio itself and Brazil. A story of murder sex and corruption ….
The Silence of the Rain
What you need to know before your trail
In a Rio de Janeiro garage a young executive Ricardo Carvalho climbs into his car, smokes a cigarette and then shoots himself dead. Seemingly having everything to live for -why did he take his own life?
The police think that his death looks like a robbery gone wrong, since the victim’s gun and briefcase are nowhere to be found.
Inspector Espinosa is called to investigate . There is a lot that is not right about this case and he is determined to find out the truth.
Travel Guide
Rio de Janeiro conjures up many images of sun, samba dancing, cocktails and other iconic images yet is true to say that the background of a city known here and elsewhere as crime ridden and some what dangerous is more the reality in this novel.
Strangely despite the level of crime in the city and of course the murder in this book, the detective is rather laid back and only seems to work his regular day time hours of 9 till 5. It is a city of gun crime and gang crime in particular and obviously this is a setting you would not want to venture into outside of a book.
The jacket says that the book is “strong on atmosphere, short on idealism”, and this atmosphere is definitely from a policeman’s point of view – the streets of Rio are dark and dangerous and the unwelcoming to say the least –
“Not many people – besides Espinosa and some beggar – would consider the Praca Maua a good place to sit and think. The beggars had eyed him warily at first but gradually got used to him. He never went out at night, respectful of its metamorphosis….”
Wealth and power seem to have been the victim here and in Rio with ‘old colonial houses with their ‘stone facades and small wrought iron balconies’ are bound to have seen some wealth and destruction of it over the years.
Streetview Maps
A) San Jose street where the garage is
C) Avenida republica do Chile - where they park at the start of novel
Booktrail Boarding Pass Information: The Silence of the Rain
Guide: Luiz Alfredo Garcia Roza Destination: Rio de Janeiro Departure Time: 2000
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