When the fifteen-year-old granddaughter of one of the most important and influential men in Recife, and indeed in all of Brazil, goes missing, the case lands on the desk of Chief Inspector Mario Silva, who makes his third appearance in this latest in the series. [The politician's office is described as "decorated partly in nineteenth-century French colonial and partly in twenty-first-century Brazilian egomaniac."] As the Brazilian Federal Police is apparently “a smaller organization than the police departments of many major cities,” Silva is forced to call upon the local police. This would seem to be a good thing, until one realizes how thoroughly corrupt are those so-called officers of the law.
The early action in the book takes place in Amsterdam, before settling in Brasilia, the Brazilian capital, and Manaus, deep in Amazon country. The description of the latter city in these pages will not raise any tourism interest, depicted as it is as a place rife with corruption and crime to incredible degrees. Silva’s investigation is hampered on all sides: When outright bribery is not the motivating force, it is political expediency.
In this novel the author delves a bit more into the back-story of Inspector Silva. As well, he brings back Claudia Andrade, the hugely sadistic woman who readers met in Buried Strangers, the second novel in the series. This book is darker and more violent than the prior entry, dealing as it does with the exploitation of under-age girls, some as young as 10, sold into prostitution and worse, much worse. The suspense steadily builds towards a page-turning denouement, and the fast pace, tight plotting and well-drawn characters all make it a book which is highly recommended.
