Pleasantly surprised how much I enjoyed this novel, especially the first 2/3's or so. The mix of artist sensibilities and detective work gave the novel a fascinating depth,and the writing is excellent. The author continued to add characters and connections throughout the book until at the end he was forced to finally give it up- I was by then almost tired! But it was well worth the effort and I look forward to reading more of him. ( )

(Published originally on:
The Blind Man of Seville by Robert Wilson)



Beim Lesen dieses Buch war ich gänzlich entgeistert! Es hört sich nicht an wie ein Krimi…:)
Als ich schon ungefähr 50 Seiten gelesen habe, war ich gänzlich entgeistert! Seit langer Zeit lese ich kein Buch mit dieser Qualität. Eins der besten Bücher seit langer Zeit!
Wirklich hervorragend ist der unglaublich komplizierte und nicht leicht durchschaubare Plot.
Es ist sehr stilistisch. Es hat mich irgendwie an Hemingway erinnert. Die spanischen Begriffe haben auch mir sehr gut gefallen. Sie geben dem Buch eine angemessene Stimmung.
Zum Glück kann ich mehr oder weniger Spanisch verstehen! Wenn man Spanisch nicht beherrscht, kann es schwerer sein, das Buch zu schätzen. Die Tagebucheintragungen sind auch nicht sehr enthüllend, weil Robert Wilson ein hervorragender Schriftsteller ist. Obendrein ist die Erzählung des ganzen Buches wunderbar, d.h., jedes Wort ist ein Genuß. Fazit: Das Buch gehört zu den besten Krimis, die ich gelesen habe. Ein fesselnder Roman.

Fazit: Ich muss die anderen Bücher kaufen...:)

Bibliographie:

Reihe von "Bruce Medway"
1. Instruments of Darkness (1994)
2. The Big Killing (1996)
3. Blood is Dirt (1997)
4. A Darkening Stain (1998)

"Stand-alones"
A Small Death in Lisbon (1999)
The Company of Strangers (2001)

Reihe von "Javier Falcon"
1. The Blind Man of Seville (2003)
2. The Silent and the Damned (2004) aka The Vanished Hands
3. The Hidden Assassins (2006)

Sagen es weiter !" ( )

I guess I would classify this book as noir detective fiction which is a contradiction in terms according to Wikipedia which defines noir fiction as "Noir fiction (or roman noir) is a literary genre closely related to hardboiled genre with a distinction that the protagonist is not a detective, but instead either a victim, a suspect, or a perpetrator." Javier Falcon is the protagonist of this book and he is a detective with the Seville police force but the other elements of noir fiction that Wikipedia gives "Other common characteristics include the self-destructive qualities of the protagonist. A typical protagonist of the Noir fiction is dealing with the legal, political or other system that is no less corrupt than the perpetrator by whom the protagonist is either victimized and/or has to victimize others on a daily basis, leading to Lose-lose situation."
are certainly there.

Javier Falcon is forty-something and trying to conduct a police investigation into a brutal death while dealing with his separation from his wife and the fairly recent death of his father who was a famous artist. As he delves deeper into the history of the dead man he starts to confront truths about his father, his mother (who died while he was young) and his second mother (as he calls the woman who married his father after his mother's death). Falcon senior left instructions in his will, of which Javier is the executor, that everything in his studio was to be burned. Javier hasn't been able to do this but he does finally enter the studio and start looking. He discovers journals that his father wrote for years before and after he became a father. But there was a note with the journals telling Javier to burn them as well without looking at them. This Javier cannot do and he discovers things he never knew from reading them. His investigation into the brutal death and his discovery of his father's true nature start to braid together and affect him psychologically. Can he retain his sanity and solve this crime? Perhaps but he will come close to rock bottom doing so. ( )

This is an incredibly detailed and complex thriller about a series of murders on the periphery of the art community in Seville. The Inspector Jefe (the lead investigator) is Javier Falcon, the son of a (recently deceased) famous artist, and the victims are (or are associated with) people who were close to Javier's father.

What is extremely nice about this story is how well it is written. Wilson paces the story very carefully and very methodically. He forgoes action and violence, and focuses on detail and psychology - in fact, he gives an extremely deep and compelling characterization of Javier, whose confidence has been shattered by his recent divorce - particularly when he discovers that his ex is now seeing someone else.

An effective device is deployed in this book - a diary kept by Javier's father, which tracks the father's progression from soldier to pirate to painter. Diary entries are interspersed with the story and begin fleshing out details of Javier's past and his father's life. Effectively, Wilson has written a compelling story within a story - the author explains that mid-way through the book he realized that he needed a diary to work from, so he spent several months writing the father's diary before returning to the main book.

This is the first book I've read of Wilson's, but it won't be the last. I've already ordered the sequel to this novel. Mysteries are a dime a dozen, and most are mediocre. Wilson proves himself to be top-notch - you haven't read a real mystery until you've read The Blind Man of Seville. ( )

The first time I heard of the Javier Falcón books was when the first was dramatized on TV, and unfortunately I missed it. So it was with anticipation that I turned to the first of the four books, The Blind Man of Seville. My first impression was that it was the longest detective book I’d read in a while, but the reason for this soon became apparent: the back story in Tangiers. In a note at the back of the book, Wilson directs his readers to the full-length diaries he wrote for Francisco Falcón, Javier’s late father, artist, Tangiers resident and key character in ‘The Blind Man of Seville’.
It is a complicated novel, entangling the Spanish legal system, bullfighting, the worlds of art and restaurants, Seville, Tangiers and the theme which lurks just below the surface of everyday Spain: the Spanish Civil War. There is something about the first murder which slowly tips Inspector Falcón towards mental breakdown. Like all detectives, the interest lies in his frailties, how he overcomes them and manages to do the day job, how he outwits the criminal mind.
Francisco’s diaries are fascinating; an insight into the Spanish Legion, its time in Morocco and Russia, the brutality and hardships, the sense of brotherhood. The diaries in their entirety are available to read at Robert Wilson’s website, here, but do not read them until you have finished the book. At times as Javier reads his father’s story, the story churns his guts; mine too. Anyone who has read anything about the Civil War will anticipate some of the brutality. Wilson skilfully weaves this storyline into the modern day hunt for a murderer.
This is far from a formulaic detective story. Wilson writes about heavy subjects with a confident hand, and creates atmosphere easily. “The hotel had suffered in the intervening half-century. There was a glass panel missing from one of the doors in his room. Paint peeled off the metal windows. The furniture looked as if it had taken refuge from a violent husband. But there was a perfect view of the bay of Tangier and Falcón sat on the bed and gaped at it, while thoughts of deracination spread through his mind.”
This is the first book of a quartet about Javier Falcón.
Read more of my book reviews at http://www.sandradanby.com/book-reviews-a-z/ ( )