The Summer of Dead Toys by Antonio Hill

I was only a few chapters in to this book when I knew that one story wasn't going to be enough about Inspector Hector Salgado.  Author Antonio Hill has created a character that I want to read about again and again. 

The Inspector has just returned from a month long enforced vacation to his homeland of Argentina when he was asked to unofficially investigate a suicide.  At first, he goes through the motions of this new case, but can't let go of the human trafficking one that got him in such trouble.  Hector is a good investigator, he knows not  to accept things at face value, but to collect and listen to the evidence. Fortunate for him and for the dead man,   Leira Castro is assigned as his new partner and she is brilliant at her job.  Together, they uncover of a web of deceit reaching back years.

I loved this novel, it kept me interested, on the edge of my seat for the entire story.  It combined great characters, a city that is foreign to me and a plot that I couldn't anticipated.  It is an excellent example of a classic police procedural where good solid police work and investigation find the clues/leads and follow them through to their actual conclusion of a solved crime.

Inspector Hector Salgado returns in The Good Suicides and then in The Hiroshima Lovers (yet to be translated to english).

Cover image courtesy of PenguinRandom House.

Thanks to Blogging for Books for my review copy.