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Narrated at least in part by a vampire, this award-winning fictionalization of an actual event reveals slowly, clearly, and ever so gently (mostly) that there are monsters in all of us.
It is 1936 and Barcelona is in the middle of the Civil War. People are dying by the score on a daily basis - some just for being in the wrong place at the wrong time, some to settle personal scores, some because they are on the wrong side today, some for no perceptible reason. War is that way. Superintendent Munoz investigates murders as best he can, given the situation. He is intrigued by the murder of a Marist monk and, close by, a small boy, both drained of their blood. Nobody else really cares; being a Marist monk is reason enough to be killed under the current regime. Munoz wonders if the child was murdered by the same person, or were two separate crimes committed literally feet away from each other. He is not encouraged to pursue his inquiries.
Manuel Escorza is head of the Department of Investigations in Barcelona, a position he abuses on a daily basis. His sister is the mother abbess of a local order of Capuchin nuns. Manuel, for his own reasons, is allowing them to live and is also providing for them so they don't starve or freeze. His quid pro quo, for right now, is requiring that Bishop Perugorria be allowed to stay with the sisters. Also staying with the nuns is a thirteen-year-old refugee whose parents are dead. The Bishop seems to be fascinated by Sister Concepcio, although not in a sexual way. The Mother Abbess wants the Bishop gone; Manuel does not. Manuel has always gotten his way; he learned how to manipulate his sister at a very young age and she still can't/won't resist him.
The Marist monks are trying their best to get out of Barcelona and Spain, into France, where they will not be under a death sentence for their religion. The political situation ensures that spies are everywhere. Knowing whom to trust is almost impossible. Misplacing one's trust in even the most innocuous seeming situation can be, and often is, fatal. Nobody is who they seem to be at first glance; everyone has at least one hidden agenda, and sometimes more than one.
Alzamara writes of all of this with a fluidity and serenity of language which is sharply at odds with his subject matter. There is humor, although it is subtle and infrequent. The characters are vivid and believable, whether or not one believes in the undead. The other monsters exist; war brings out the worst in many people. The massacre in the final chapters of BLOOD CRIME is horrific, and yet it comes as no surprise, having been set up by the entirety of the novel preceding it. This is a beautifully written novel and the translators do it full justice.
§ I have been reading and reviewing mystery fiction for over a quarter of a century and read broadly within just about all genres and sub-genres. I have been a preliminary judge for the Malice Domestic/St. Martin’s Press Best First Traditional Mystery Novel Contest for at least 25 years. I live in Northern lower Michigan with my spousal unit, one large cat, and 2 fairly small dogs. My Sherlockian (BSI) nom-de-plume is VR; my license plate is BSI VR
Reviewed by PJ Coldren, September 2016
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Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)
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