THE IGNORANCE OF BLOOD - Robert Wilson

Jefe Javier Falcón is undoubtedly one of those slightly rumpled, thoughtful, urbane, complicated and delightful detectives that fans of crime fiction will love to spend time with.  THE IGNORANCE OF BLOOD is the last book in this series, beginning with THE BLIND MAN OF SEVILLE, then THE SILENT AND THE DAMNED and THE HIDDEN ASSASSINS.

In THE IGNORANCE OF THE BLOOD Seville is a swelteringly hot, tense and shocked city, following a terrorist attack which Falcón has promised will not go unsolved.  Unfortunately, whilst the promise was heart-felt, the actual identification of those behind the attack is not so easy and Falcón is struggling.  Meanwhile a Russian gangster is making a run for it with a lot of cash and some future plans which don't sit well with his masters.

When you sit down to read THE IGNORANCE OF BLOOD you need to make sure you've got time on your hands.  For a start it's unlikely you're going to want to put it down again, and for a second, you're going to have to concentrate a bit.  The mix of Gangsters, Terrorists, Lovers, Children, Police Departments, Spys, Friends and Acquaintances gets very complex.  Not that the plot is necessarily over-complicated, it's just that there is an awful lot going on in this book and you'll need to keep a lot of names, places, people and events straight in your mind.  (Confession here - I have the book but I also listened to a fair portion of it via Audiobook which really was a fabulous experience, the names of people and places pronounced properly just added a little extra to the enjoyment of the book).

If you haven't read the earlier books you should still be able to sort out who is who and some of the backstory of the characters.  There's enough detail spread throughout to give you a backwards perspective, but not so much that you feel like it's a retrospective.  There is also real writing skill being exhibited here.  There's a lot of personal angst and relationship difficulties delved into and explored, but at no time does the pace of the book suffer.  He really does characters well but he also does settings beautifully.  You can feel the heat of Seville, the smells and sights of Andalucia are so evocative.  You read these books with a hankering for ripe oranges, olives, tiled floors and cool places.  There's also something very chilling about the plots, they are elaborate and sinister and very discomforting.  

Alongside the Falcón series, Wilson has written a number of other books which are equally excellent, but THE IGNORANCE OF BLOOD, it seems, is the last of the Javier Falcón quartet.  Botheration, blast and drat it all.