Loa a un Angel
Lucha Corpi. Nuria Brufau Alvira, trans. Houston: Arte Publico Press, 2012. 217pp. $16.95. ISBN: 9781558857513
Tuesday, June 12, 2012
by: Sara Martinez

Section: Adult Book Reviews




Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title. Accessed 6/15/2012 at http://tinyurl.com/86vlxnl

The first novel in Corpi's classic Gloria Damasco detective series is now available in Spanish translation.

From Publishers Weekly-
A haze of dazzlingly evocative prose very nearly hides this first mystery's slack plotting. Corpi's ear for Latino rhythms and her feminist leanings produce some original and highly charged narrative moments. But plot still matters. In 1970, a three-year-old boy dies on an L.A. street during the unrest of the National Chicano Moratorium. Gloria Damasco finds the body, alerts the police and befriends the child's family. From here on, Corpi breezes through the action. The only key witness, a street gang member, is killed; then Kenyon, the cop on the case, zeroes in on Gloria's photographer friend as a suspect for no apparent reason. Corpi, a poet, gives her sleuth occasional clairvoyant moments that lead towards the killer and provide hints of subtle menace. Although careful readers might anticipate the solution and wish for a few more suspects, Corpi expands the genre with this work of small triumphs.

Highly recommended for public libraries and bookstores.

 
  
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