Synopsis
This is the fourth volume of Padura's Las cuatro estaciones (The Four Seasons), a series of detective novels . The Cuban-born Padura won the Premio Cafe de Gir"n in 1995 and the Premio Hammett for best detective novel in 1997 and 1998 for the first three parts of this tetralogy: Máscaras (Masks, Tusquets, 1997), Paisaje de Otoño (Fall Landscape, Tusquets, 1998), and Pasado Perfecto (Perfect Past, Tusquets, 2000), all of which were also published in Cuba by the Unión de Escritores y Artistas de Cuba (Cuban Writers and Artists' Union).

In this fourth novel, the central character of the series, Lt. Mario Conde, investigates the murder of a high school chemistry teacher in Havana while becoming romantically involved with a married woman. The plot includes the typical romantic and lurid elements of detective novels but with unique Cuban twists, such as the criminal who becomes a government informant to protect his modest enterprise. Padura's writing is fluid and simple, and at first glance his characters seem one-dimensional. However, the reader will learn much about Cuban culture and broader sociopolitical issues; Conde's vernacular language, for instance, offers an intriguing and accurate insider's view of Havana's street life. Recommended for public and academic libraries with Spanish-language detective fiction and literature collections. -Tatiana de la Tierra, Univ. at Buffalo, Undergraduate Lib. Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information-. Source: Publisher's Weekly