A Small Death in Lisbon - Hardcover

Wilson, Robert

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0151006091 ISBN 13: 9780151006090

Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2000

Synopsis

When Inspector Ze Coelho investigates the murder of a young girl living in modern Portugal, he discovers that the crime is somehow linked to Nazi misdeeds six decades earlier in this gritty, suspenseful tale. 30,000 first printing.

About this title

Review:

In such distinctively written novels as A Darkening Stain and Blood is Dirt, Robert Wilson established a solid claim to be the heir apparent of such major writers as Graham Greene in fusing thriller elements with brilliantly written novels of character. His speciality was the luminous creation of atmosphere in his exotic locales, and his 1999 Golden Dagger winner, A Small Death in Lisbon represents the most cogent example yet of this rare ability.

Europe, 1941: Lisbon is one of the world's tensest cities, and as the Nazis and Allies jostle for power, Iberia becomes a fulcrum for the menace that is about to engulf Europe. Klaus Felsen, torn from his Berlin factory to become a reluctant member of the SS, finds himself drawn into a savage battle for a vital element in Hitler's Blitzkrieg. There he meets a man who will set in motion a sinister conspiracy that will last to the end of the century.

Lisbon, 1998: Inspector Zé Coelho is struggling against the closed ranks of his colleagues in the investigation of the brutal murder of a young girl. Her disturbing sexual past is the focus for his colleagues' attention, but as Coelho begins to unearth some remarkable secrets behind her death, he encounters a plot that stretches beyond the 1974 Portuguese revolution--back to the atrocities of the fascist regime. Soon he is facing a terrifying opponent in his battle to uncover the horrors of the past.

The protagonist as an outsider in a hostile community may not be a new literary device, but rarely is it so adroitly handled. Coelho is a fully rounded character, vividly realised and handled with an unflinching honesty. The complexity of the narrative stays clear and compelling because of Wilson's ability to sharply rein various plot lines, while slowly allowing them to unfold. Although more ambitious and epic in its scope than his previous books, A Small Death in Lisbon retains all the author's customary and mesmerising imagery:

It was at about that time that a girl started to make her dent in the sand no more than the few hundred metres away from where I was sleeping. Her eyes wide open, she moonbathed to a night full of stars, her blood slack, her skin cold and hard as fresh tuna.

-- Barry Forshaw

Review:

Compulsively readable... rich in history and intrigue, love and death. Bold, inventive and wholly successful... Wilson unmistakably delivers the goods.’ Literary Review

‘This is vintage suspense writing; sharp, cold, mean and funny.’ Alan Furst

‘A gripping and absorbing drama that spans Europe from wartime Berlin to contemporary Lisbon.’ Val McDermid

‘A class act...For once a novelist influenced by Raymond Chandler is not shown up by the comparison.’ Sunday Times

About this edition

• Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
• Publication date: 2000
• ISBN 10: 0151006091
• ISBN 13: 9780151006090
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 440