All This I Will Give to You

Als Manuel erfährt, dass sein Ehemann Alvaro bei einem Autounfall in Galicien ums Leben gekommen ist, macht er sich sofort auf den Weg dorthin. Zu seiner Überraschung erfährt er, dass Alvaro dort ein Doppelleben führte, von dem er keine Ahnung hatte. Trotz seines Schmerzes und seiner Enttäuschung beginnt er gemeinsam mit dem frisch pensionierten Polizisten Nogueira nachzuforschen, weshalb Alvaro starb - und ob es wirklich 'nur' ein Unfall war. Je mehr sie sich damit beschäftigen, umso unglaublicher werden ihre Entdeckungen, die weit in die Vergangenheit zurückreichen.
Es ist eine erstaunliche und spannende Geschichte, die hier nach und nach offenbart wird. Viel erfährt man über das Leben des alten spanischen Adels, der offenbar show more noch immer eine große Zahl von Privilegien genießt, obwohl der Höhepunkt seiner Macht schon lange überschritten ist. Doch die Autorin ist auch den 'normalen' Menschen sehr zugetan, die sie ebenso wie diesen spanischen Landesteil voller Zuneigung ausführlich beschreibt. Man sieht beim Lesen buchstäblich die beeindruckenden Landschaften vor sich und bekommt zusehends Lust, sich alles selbst anzuschauen (zumindest bei mir wuchs dieses Bedürfnis stetig :-)).
Der Kriminalfall entwickelt sich zu Beginn eher bedächtig, denn es ist vergleichsweise lange unklar, ob tatsächlich überhaupt ein Verbrechen vorliegt. Blut fließt kaum und manchmal ist es fast schon etwas langatmig, wenn Manuel wiederholt seinen Gedanken nachhängt. Doch das Tempo zieht an und gegen Ende scheinen sich die Ereignisse beinahe zu überschlagen.
Ein guter Schmöker, auch wenn ich ihn nicht so gelungen finde wie beispielsweise 'Die Wahrheit über den Fall Harry Quebert' von Joël Dicker. Zwar ereignen sich auch bei 'Alles was ich Dir geben will' eine Reihe von verblüffenden Geschehnissen, doch bei Weitem nicht in der Menge und Intensität. Irgendwie ahnt man stets doch schon, was ungefähr passieren wird. Auch die Figuren sind in ihrer Persönlichkeit eher eindimensional - entweder gut oder böse, große Überraschungen gibt es nicht. Dennoch: Alles in allem keine schlechte Unterhaltung. show less

Is truth true for us only when it shows us what we were expecting to see?

Truth was a very high priority for Manuel Ortigosa but he soon discovers life is full of untruths, lies, omissions and distortions.
Manuel was busily working on his latest novel when he was interrupted by loud, persistent knocking on the door. It was two police officers asking if it was the residence of Álvaro Muñiz de Dávila. Manuel said Álvaro was his husband. They had been together for fifteen years. The police told him that Álvaro had died in a car accident in Monforte that morning.
In addition to being shocked, Manuel was very confused. Álvaro said he was going to Barcalona. 600 miles away, to work on a work project, something he did regularly. When show more he called Mei, Alvaro’s secretary, he realized that she knew things about Álvaro that he didn’t.
When Manuel showed up to identify Álvaro’s body, he was met by the contract manager of his estate who was the executor of his will. Álvaro had broken off contact with his family when he came out a gay. At least, that’s what he told him. The truth was not only was he in contact with his family, to a limited degree, but it was also head of a very wealthy family and he was the Marquis of Santo Tomé. His will left almost everything to Manuel.
Manuel went to the estate to see it and meet the family. They were very upset that this gay man, whom they didn’t even know, was going to become the head. The mother, especially, is particularly nasty. Manuel, meanwhile, had no intention of accepting his inheritance.
Despite being angry, hurt, and confused, Manuel decided to stay on to learn more about the family and the man who he loved but was not who he claimed to be.
He is joined by a homophobic police officer and a priest who have doubts about the cause of Álvaro’s death as well about past events.
While some of the information is predictable, much of it is not. The story of how Manuel and Álvaro met is charming.
The book is long with nice descriptions of people and places.
It was a free Amazon Kindle download show less

A couple of month's ago did I listen to all the books in the Baztán trilogy by Dolores Redondo. I was so captivated by them that it was with quite a lot of sadness that I finished the last book. So, when I learned that there was a new book translated into English to read was I thrilled and hoped to a chance to read it soon. So, I was happy to get the chance to be part of the blog tour for the book.

I have to admit that what I most wanted was a continuation to the last book in the Baztán trilogy since the ending left me feeling that the story wasn't really finished. Not that I wasn't looking forward to reading this book. I was definitely thrilled to have a new Redondo book to read.

ALL THIS I WILL GIVE TO YOU is a gripping mystery book. show more It's a thick book and you have to have patient reading it. The story slowly unfurls along the way and you learn more and more about Álvaro and his quite dysfunctional family along the way. Manuel has a lot to take in, not only has he lost the man he loves, he learns that Álvaro had a lot of secrets. And, the more Manuel dig into Álvaro's death, the surer he is that something is wrong. What really happened the night Álvaro died? Why is his family acting so weird and why did Álvaro ever tell him about his family

ALL THIS I WILL GIVE TO YOU is a slow-paced book. Never boring, just very detailed and closing the book felt a bit like saying goodbye to new friends. I felt the need to not rush the story, I wanted to really take in the details. Manuel is such a wonderful man, a bit lost now that his rock Álvaro is gone. He slowly realizes that Álvaro has taken care of a lot in his life, and he only realizes it now that he's gone. There is a flashback in the story to how they met and is such a wonderful and romantic story. Also, the very ending of the book almost had me in tears. It was so perfect!

I will end this review by saying that if you want a really well-written mystery novel, then I recommend ALL THIS I WILL GIVE TO YOU. I can't wait to read more books from Dolores Redondo.

I want to thank ed public relations for providing me with a free copy for an honest review! show less

Manuel, a writer in Madrid, is interrupted at his home by the police, coming to inform him that his husband Álvaro has been in killed in a car crash in Galicia, hundreds of miles from where he had said he'd be on business. When Manuel arrives there, he discovers that Álvaro had a life of which he had no inkling - he was a marquis and wealthy landowner, the head of his horrible birth family, and he was in Galicia taking care of a family crisis when he died in a one-car accident. Manuel finds out he is Álvaro's sole heir, much as he wants to reject it, and as angry and hurt as he is to have to find out about Álvaro this way, he decides to stay for a time to work with a retired homophobic cop who thinks Álvaro was murdered and can't show more let it go. The cop also thinks Álvaro's younger brother was murdered when he died three years ago. Suspects abound, and Manuel finds himself sucked into the investigation, at the same time learning to love the area and its people (not so much the family).

Addictive suspense. Redondo is also the author of a three-part suspense series I've read is just as good, but only the first book is available for Kindle so far, although all are available in print in English. show less

When Manuel Ortigosa is told his husband Álvaro has been killed in a car accident, he also finds out Álvaro was in Galicia rather than Barcelona, where he was supposed to be, and he belonged to a wealthy aristocratic family. What else didn't he know? He goes to the family's estate for the funeral and to get some answers.

The first two-thirds or so of this book was engrossing but very slow-moving (at one point I thought "Has it only been a week since Álvaro's death? It feels more like a month."). But then the revelations and action come thick and fast in the final third not giving the readers a chance to catch their breath.

Since this was a freebie for last year's World Book Day, I will pick some nits and point out that the editor for show more the translation should have picked up that a marquis's wife is a marchioness, not a marquess (alternative spelling of marquis) and several times 'secret' was used when I think 'secrecy' would have been more idiomatic.

Having said that, I thoroughly enjoyed this book and look forward to reading the author's other books. show less

This book started out slow for me but as I read, the story and characters really began to grow on me. By the end, I found my self attached to several of the characters, even those I initially disliked, and absorbed by the mystery. I also felt like I learned about another part of the world. Life in the Spanish country side was bound by tradition and social contracts. I found the contrast between Galicia and Madrid especially interesting. I really enjoyed the scenes involving the wineries and the traditional vineyards. It brought the community to life.

I selected this book as part of an Audible international fiction promotion because the bare bones of the plot are intriguing and it's set in a part of the world I knew nothing of - the Galicia district of northwest Spain. When a man (a novelist!) inherits all the assets of an ancient noble family, he is drawn into their intrigues, and possibly their crimes.

The first part of the book ever so slowly reveals the principal characters and plot lines, with lengthy interior monologues that, I will confess, often failed to hold my interest. I held on, though, since I had become invested in learning Who did What to Whom.

Once the action picks up (a relative concept in this book, which for the most part plods along), I found the reading more show more enjoyable, though still mired down in melodrama and those anguished soul-barings. The place descriptions were generally far longer than they needed to be, although I will confess that I appreciated the explanations of the wine-growing techniques in the Ribeira Sacra region, since they differ from anything I've seen before.

The last few chapters move along much more crisply than the bulk of the book, leaving me with the impression that the author opted for the rather operatic tone that preceded them intentionally since she clearly knows how to write a more traditionally paced mystery. Although I wouldn't say that I disliked the book, I guess my personal tastes in mysteries that revolve around family histories tends more toward Ross McDonald. show less