Celebrating Mysteries: the Americas

 

It's time for me to share the latest addition to my series that celebrates mysteries with a strong sense of place. For one reason or another, I haven't done nearly as much traveling as I'd like, so I've been forced to do the next best thing: read books set in the countries I'm curious about. I love finding authors who can seamlessly weave an area's landscape and culture into their stories to give me a deeper understanding of the world around me. 

This installment will list some of the mystery series I enjoy that are set in the Americas-- excluding the United States, which will have a chapter all its own. Of them all, I need the most help in gathering new authors to read from Canada and Central and South America, so if you have any recommendations, please leave a comment! I do admit that I like to add to your reading lists, but I also look forward to your help in increasing mine. Turnabout's fair play, eh?

Oh! Before I head off into my list, I'll include links to the other posts in this series just in case you missed one... Africa & Australasia, Europe, and Asia. If I missed any good ones in any of those posts, your additions are very much appreciated. 

 

The links will take you to authors' websites, to my reviews of the books, or to Amazon if my review isn't available. Now it's time to get down to work!

Bolivia

 

City of Silver is a standalone historical mystery by Annamaria Alfieri that absolutely knocked my socks off. 

 

I will be the first to admit that my knowledge of South American is woefully inadequate, but I'm taking up some of the slack by reading marvelous books like this. 

 

The setting is Potosí in what is now Bolivia in the 1650s. At the time, it was the largest city in the Western Hemisphere (comparable in size to London), and-- at an altitude of 14,000 feet-- it's the highest city in the world. Add its fabled silver mines to the mix, and you have a place that was the world's richest city for well over a century.

 

The way Alfieri created an intriguing mystery and then seamlessly wove in all the details of the setting still makes me drool. This is the sort of book that I love, and I'm so glad I had the good fortune to find a copy and read it.

 

 

Brazil

 

Pancreatic cancer took Leighton Gage away from us much, much too soon. I absolutely love his Inspector Mario Silva series and have lost track of the number of times I've recommended it to someone. The seven-book series takes readers to various locations throughout Brazil, and I came to a much better understanding of the country through reading them. 

 

The first three books in the series are:

 

Blood of the Wicked

Buried Strangers

Dying Gasp

 

 

The British Virgin Islands 

 

 

 

John Keyse-Walker writes a series featuring Constable Teddy Creque, the sole police officer on the remote island of Anegada. Not only are the mysteries good, I've learned a lot about Caribbean island life and the British Virgin Islands. i was so happy to see that the third book in the series, Palms, Paradise, Poison will be available in the UK at the end of this month and in the US at the beginning of January.

 

Sun, Sand, Murder

Beach, Breeze, Bloodshed

 

 

Canada

 

 

Barbara Fradkin has written a series with a main character who eventually annoyed me so much that I don't intend to read any further, but I have to admit that I will miss the series because I loved how much I learned about various areas in Canada. If you are much more tolerant of a "squeaky wheel" than I am, chances are you'll really enjoy Fradkin's Amanda Doucette series for more than the landscapes.

 

There are currently four books in the series:

 

Fire in the Stars

The Trickster's Lullaby

Prisoners of Hope

The Ancient Dead

 

M.J. McGrath wrote a trilogy about Edie Kiglatuk, a former polar bear hunter and the best guide in her isolated Inuit community in the Canadian Arctic. Not only did I enjoy following force-of-nature Edie around while she solved mysteries, I enjoyed learning about the Inuit culture of Canada.

 

White Heat

The Boy in the Snow

The Bone Seeker

 

 

Mexico

 

Simon Levack wrote a series of historical mysteries set in Precolumbian Mexico on the eve of the Spanish colonization of the Americas and feature as the protagonist Yaotl, a fictitious slave to the chief minister in the Aztec state of Tenochtitlan under Emperor Moctezuma II. Demon of the Air, the first book in the series, won the Debut Dagger Award, given by the UK Crime Writers' Association, in 2000.

 

Besides the amount of fascinating historical research that brought these mysteries to life, I enjoy the mysteries, the humor, and the help it's given me with pronunciation of what look like tongue-twisting names. I've been hanging on to the fourth book-- saving it for just the right time, I suppose-- but I really think I need to read it soon.

 

Demon of the Air

The Shadow of the Lords

Aztec City of Spies

Tribute of Death

 

 

There you have it-- my list of mysteries from the Americas that have such a strong sense of place that you feel as though you're living with the characters as you read.

 

Did I leave anyone out? Please let me know!

City of Silver by Annamaria Alfieri

First Line: Santiago Yana approached the mine by night.

When Inez de la Morada, the daughter of the rich and powerful mayor of Potosí, dies in the convent of Santa Isabella de los Santos Milagros, it looks as though she committed suicide. However, Abbess Maria Santa Hilda believes it was murder-- even though the girl was in a locked room. The abbess is in an unenviable position. If she allows the girl's death to be considered suicide (which means she cannot be buried in consecrated ground), she will be in very real danger from the all-powerful mayor. If she says the girl's death was murder and allows burial in the convent, she will be in mortal danger from the Inquisition. There's only one thing Maria Santa Hilda can do: prove Inez was murdered before the King's representatives come to Potosí. She has very little time.

I don't like admitting it, but my knowledge of South America is woefully inadequate; however, it is due to books like Annamaria Alfieri's City of Silver, that I'm taking up some of the slack. This book takes place in 1650s Potosí in what is now Bolivia. At that time, it was the largest city in the Western Hemisphere (comparable in size to London) and the richest city in the entire world-- a position it had held for almost a century because of the area's fabulous silver mines. And due to its 14,000-foot elevation, it's also the highest city in the world.

The setting alone almost blew me away. The author's tapestry is so carefully and closely woven, you almost don't realize how much you're learning about the time and place. When readers start learning about the social history, it gets even better. What it's like living at such high altitude when the windows of the buildings are unglazed (have no glass in them). What it's like to have such unheard-of wealth at your disposal that your everyday dishes are solid silver. My mind was almost boggled-- and I loved it.

But City of Silver is no mere history lesson; it's also a marvelous mystery. From the opening scene in a mine that raised the hair on the back of my neck to the investigation surrounding Inez de la Morada's death, the mystery is multi-layered and totally compelling. The book is imbued with high altitude chill and a pervading sense of danger. The characters are revealed slowly, and almost all of them grow and change with the circumstances.

If you enjoy historical mysteries set in exotic places, I highly recommend Alfieri's City of Silver. Part of me is still on that mountaintop in Potosí.

City of Silver by Annamaria Alfieri

ISBN: 9780312383862

Minotaur Books © 2009

Hardcover, 336 pages

Historical Mystery, Standalone

Rating: A

Source: Paperback Swap