Water-Blue Eyes by Domingo Villar

Do you know anybody with Water-Blue Eyes? I don't. From what I understand from Domingo Villar's award winning crime novel, Water-Blue Eyes are not only rare but very attractive. Why would anyone cause such excruciating pain to somebody with those attractive water-blue eyes?

Luis Reigosa, jazz Saxophonist is found murdered in his bed with hands tied and mouth gagged. The method for murder is very cruel and novel. Inspector Leo Caldas and his subordinate Rafael Estevez investigate the murder. Inspector Caldas regularly participates on Patrol on Air in Radio and is quite a celebrity. Doors do open and it is easier to meet people when you are a celebrity, isn't it?

Estevez is gaint of a man and is on his punishment post in Vigo on the Galician coast in Spain, where the action takes place. Why wouldn't anybody answer Estevez's questions with a direct yes or no? Estevez is quick to anger and everybody helps him with his temper in Vigo. The Waiter episode is really funny.

I wasn't completely bowled over by the mystery but there is a nice twist in the end. As killing methods go this one is something I have never heard or read before. I am definitely reading more of Inspector Caldas's cases on the Galician coast.

I borrowed this book from my local library. This book is translated from Spanish into English by Martin Schifino.

P.S. Don't crime aficionado's read philosophy?

The Vault by Ruth Rendell

I absolutely love Ruth Rendell. This is one book I was dying to read. I was lucky to find it my local library. Wexford is retired and enjoying(?) his leisure in London in a 'coachhouse' his famous actress daughter Sheila has given for his use. He spends time between his house in Kingsmarkham and London. He is taking long walks enjoying all that London has to offer and spending time with his grandchildren. But he is not fully happy, how can he be! He misses being a policeman and wants to investigate and when his old friend gives him a chance to work as an adviser, he leaps at it.

In a cellar, in a patio of Orcadia Cottage are found four dead bodies. Three buried at least 12 years before -a young man, an older man and an older woman -and another buried 2 years before- a young woman. Who are these people and how did they end up in 'the vault'?

At the domestic front, there is as usual some trouble with one of Wexford's daughters. This time it is Sylvia. And Sylvia is not a teen but a mother of a teen that doesn't mean her troubles are any smaller.

If you had read The Sight for the Sore Eyes, you already know who the first three in the Vault are. But Wexford doesn't. How does Wexford go about finding who these people are? The real mystery is about who the fourth body that of the young woman is, who was dumped there ten years after the initial crime. Who killed her and used the Vault as her grave?

I read The Sight for Sore Eyes some years ago and the only thing I remember about it is why the manhole in the patio was not closed. I don't remember who these people are. The mystery about the younger woman makes it reading worthwhile. Overall an interesting read.

This counts towards various challenges. For the Merely Mystery Reading Challenge I would rank this as a whodunit. For the European Reading Challenge the action takes place in London. This counts as the crime novel whose protagonist is the opposite gender of the author for the Criminal Plots II challenge.

Challenges: Mystery & Suspense Reading Challenge 2012, A-Z Challenge 2012, Read 52 Books in 52 Weeks, Merely Mystery Reading Challenge, British Book Challenge, Bucket List Book Reading Challenge, European Reading Challenge, AZRC, Eclectic Reader Challenge, Criminal Plots II Challenge