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DEATH IN PRECINCT PUERTO RICO BOOK 2
by Steven Torres
Thomas Dunne Books, May 2003
274 pages
$23.95
ISBN: 0312289898


Buy in the UK | Buy in Canada

Angustias Sheriff Luis Gonzalo returns in a new story that has more meat on its bones, but suffers from the same instances as the first novel. Steven Torres writes a great whodunit filled with great surprises and an unexpected twist in what seems to be an open-and-shut case. However, the author sabotages himself once again this time by giving a detailed epilogue that takes place years in the future forcing the series to go on one direction. The other problem the author faces is some poor choices in the use of language. More on that later.

In this installment of the Precinct Puerto Rico series, Gonzalo is driving a new mother from the hospital. Elena Maldonado has given birth to a baby boy and she is going back to the house of a man who batters her. The sheriff's hands are tied since she does not want to press charges. On that very same day, Elena is murdered and everything points to the baby's father. It should be easy to close the case, but there is more to it. Elena had a big secret that a lot of people wanted a part of and affects the future of her son. A good twist in the tale.

Torres, once again, writes an interesting police procedural in a location seldom seen in mystery fiction. The story moves at a fast pace with some moments of incredulity that makes it even more fun. There are times that the author appears to be thinking in Spanish when writing in English screwing up the tale. Here is a glaring example from the book. A man is doing everything he can to drag indefinitely a divorce proceeding. One of the cops comments that the guy was doing it to molest his wife. This word is mostly used when talking about sexual assault that was not the context that the author was trying to portray. The Spanish word 'molestar'’ means to bug or annoy. This kind of thing can put the brakes on a smooth narrative. One thing that did bug me was one of the deputies. There is a well-known Dominican musician by the name of Wilfrido Vargas that is also the name of the Angustias cop. Couldn't he have come up with a better name? This is the second book of the series, hopefully by the third, there will be massive improvement. Just one request, if it is decided to give a love interest to Officer Iris Calderón, please do not make him Mr. Chacón. That would be a big sorrow for the town of Angustias.

Reviewed by Angel L. Soto, May 2003

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Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)


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