The Beggar’s Opera

Decaying but beautiful Havana provides the atmospheric backdrop for Blair’s absorbing debut, the first in a series introducing Ricardo Ramirez, “the inspector in charge of the Havana Major Crime Unit of the Cuban National Revolutionary Police.” When a boy is brutally raped and murdered, suspicion falls on a visiting Canadian policeman, Det. Mike Ellis. The ailing Fidel Castro wants to send a strong message that Cuba doesn’t tolerate sex crimes, and a provision in Cuban criminal law that gives the police just 72 hours to secure an indictment ensures a fast pace. Nothing, however, is quite as simple as it should be: Ellis has a cloud hanging over him from a past shoot-out; he has forgotten much of the crucial evening; and Ramirez himself either has supernatural powers or is rapidly succumbing to dementia. Meanwhile, communism and ancient belief in spirits coexist in a Cuba where tourists are as likely to encounter requests for soap and pencils as requests for money. Agent: Anne McDermid, Anne McDermid & Associates (Can.). (Mar.)