Wednesday 28 March 2012

The Ambivalent Corpse by Jerold Last

This is the story of a brutal murder and dismemberment. A female body is found in Montevideo, South America - in seven parts, carefully cut up and placed between two significant monuments. The police are tied up in red tape so ask the people who found the body, Roger Bowman (ex cop turned PI) and Suzanne Foster (Botanist Professor), to help them in their investigations. Can they find out who she is and why she was killed?

This was an interesting book. The pace was good and kept me turning the pages. At times it felt like I was reading a tourist guide to the best places to visit in South America and the murder aspect was secondary but it all seemed to come together in the end. Despite having the somewhat dubious subject matter of active nazism, it was handled well and it didn't seem offensive at all. The places were described vividly, particularly the Iguazu Falls, and I now know where I want to go on my next holiday! I also liked the addition of some fairly obtuse jokes and puns at the end of each chapter. It lightened up some pretty heavy subject matter. All in all I enjoyed this and it was a fairly quick read - I read it in about four hours. A good thriller that makes you feel like you are there with them.

2 comments:

  1. Wait! Her body was chopped into seven parts and you want to go there? ;)
    Thanks for the tip on this book, Kim. I'll have to keep an eye out for it.

    -Jimmy

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