El Interior del Bosque

Fuentes (b. Spain, 1958) is the award-winning author of short stories, essays, and a series of popular novels featuring private investigator Ricardo Cupido. In this installment, Cupido is hired by an attorney, the fianc\xE9 of an irresistibly attractive artist named Gloria who was brutally murdered in the forest. The motive appears to be either money or passion, and the suspects include Gloria's disgruntled uncle, supposedly seeking her inheritance and the preservation of tradition; an elderly woman trying to wrest the forest back from public hands; an adulterous art teacher who is obsessed with her; the sculptor who plagiarized her work; and the poaching forest guard, who always appeared to be watching. When a young hiker is killed the same way in the same clearing, authorities conclude that these were the acts of a random murderer, and the client cancels Cupido's contract. Fortunately for the reader, Cupido won't let the case rest and finds a clue that lets the murdered artist speak from the grave. The darkly elegant writing, the dimension afforded the characters, and the compelling, coherent plot lines compensate for the rapid and facile denouement, which relies a bit too heavily upon a single discovery. Recommended for bookstores and libraries where fans of crime novels lurk.-Carolyn Kost, Stevenson Lib., Pebble Beach, CA