A Death in Valencia

Starred review from July 9, 2012
Tight plotting, rich atmospherics, and an engagingly flawed lead distinguish Webster’s second contemporary mystery set in Valencia, Spain (after 2011’s Or the Bull Kills You). A week after popular paella chef Pep Roures disappears, Chief Insp. Max Cámara, of the National Police, helps fish the chef’s body out of the water off the port city. The autopsy reveals that Roures drowned after being stabbed in the kidney from behind. Roures was generally admired for his culinary artistry, but he was a vocal opponent of the local government’s plan for redevelopment of the area where his restaurant was located. As Cámara’s inquiries are just getting underway, he suffers a disruptive personal tragedy that forces him to shift his focus. He soon has an abduction to factor in as well as security precautions for the impending visit of the pope. The undercurrent of melancholy, as Cámara finds himself in conflict with the powers-that-be, sets this apart from the usual southern European procedural/whodunit. Agent: Peter Robinson.

Starred review from August 15, 2012
Someone just murdered the best paella chef in Valencia. That would be Pep Roures, whose lifeless, badly mistreated body the cops are about to drag from the sea. Chief Inspector Max Camara of the Spanish National Police watches the operation bleakly. Like most Spaniards, he takes the poetry of paella seriously and has visited La Mar, Roures' restaurant, frequently enough to become a partisan. At first Camara fears internecine warfare among the great paella chefs. As it turns out, however, their rivalry has less to do with the Roures homicide than the restaurant itself. Situated in El Cabanyal, once a working fishermen's quarter, La Mar stands in the way of a huge redevelopment scheme generated in Valencia's corridors of power. Was Roures' murder simply a matter of his stubborn refusal to sell? As Camara's investigation deepens, he finds himself enmeshed in secrets, lies and long-smoldering animosities, all exacerbated by the impending visit of the pope. Meanwhile, a variety of more mundane matters clamor for his attention. He has no home, for instance. The entire block on which his flat was located has suddenly collapsed. And he has no lover. The girl in Madrid that he can't get out of his mind apparently has far less trouble getting him out of hers. Returning after a well-received debut (Or the Bull Kills You, 2011), CI Camara remains a fresh and appealing protagonist whether in victory or defeat.

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August 1, 2012
In the second Max Camara police novel (after Or the Bull Kills You, 2011), the chief inspector is investigating the murder of the city's best paella chef, who happened to be an opponent of Valencia's mayor's drive to raze a historic seaside barrio, El Cabanyal, to open the area to luxury development. But Max's investigation is sidetracked, first by his becoming homeless, thanks to the collapse of his apartment building; then by the abduction of a woman who runs a Valencia abortion clinic; and finally, by the pope coming to town. Collectively, these events, as well as affairs of the heart, have the world-weary, veteran cop teetering on the brink of quitting the Policia Nacional. Max is a wonderful character, and Valencia is a splendid setting, but Webster also employs real, decades-long tensions in Spanish national affairs and current tensions over legalized abortion and gay marriage to great effect. Fans of international crime fiction will love this series, and they are sure to add Valencia to their genre gazetteers.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2012, American Library Association.)