THE BOOK FAIR

Winner of the British Crime Writers’ Golden Dagger Award for 1999, “A Small Death in Lisbon”, involves two compelling, interwoven plot narratives which move back and forth in time.

 

1988: Inspector Jose Afonso Coehlo investigates the gruesome murder of a young woman in Lisbon, Portugal.

1941 Berlin, Germany:  Oswald Lehrer, a high ranking Nazi, forcibly employs Klaus Felson, a German industrialist, to work for the Nazis in Portugal.  In Portugal, Felson employs Joaquim Abrantes, an unscrupulous local farmer eager to work.  None of the three men feel restrained by morals; all possess an insatiable desire for wealth, no matter the source, and venture to great lengths to protect their riches of gold.

1998: Inspector Coehlo maintains a close relationship with his daughter and still mourns his deceased wife who died eighteen years before.  Coehlo’s inquiry into the murder of Catarina Oliveria, daughter of a prominent attorney, trips into a deeper exploration after the cruel murder of another young woman occurs.

 

The investigation leads to political intrigue, stolen wealth and powerful men who battle the morals of law and order in the complicated murder mystery full of unexpected twists.  The characters and the intertwining relationships are equally complex and detailed.  The style is terse though descriptive of characters, events, with historic scenes of Berlin and Portugal, and scenes of present day Lisbon.  The author doles out information in small but interesting doses.