Review: An enjoyable tale!
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 05 21, 2012
Max Castillo is a private detective, on vacation on his houseboat in the harbour in Benidorm, Spain. He left the priesthood a few years ago, totally disillusioned, and struggles to make an income living the way he is, drinking and gambling too much, much to the disgust of friend and converted prostitute, Caridad. Max helped Cari all those years ago, and now she runs a little cafe, totally on the straight and narrow, and she tries to help Max, the way he helped her, by letting him have a tab for his meals and beer. But she's not happy about it!When Max gets a call from his previous employer, after the news that a top shot businessman by the name of Anthony Ortega has turned up dead at the local golf course, he wasn't sure what to expect. But when they want him to investigate the murder, because Ortega made million dollar donations to the church and they felt they might be entitled to his estate...that's if his wife murdered him...Max wasn't impressed. Even less so when they added that he'd have to investigate for free, to cut out his debt to the church.With a friend in the local police force, Nicky Garcia, reluctantly on his side, and Samantha Gamboa, avid newspaper reporter, and a useful person to have around, Max began his investigation. His first call was on local gangster, Fulgencio Sanchez, playing golf with his cronies at the same golf course Ortega had been found. After a scary confrontation with Sanchez, he began his interviews in earnest, only to find himself in imminent danger of having his life cut short by two thugs (and their guns) waiting for him on his houseboat, warning him off the investigation.Suddenly Max is knee deep in gangsters, criminals, and people who all had reason to hate Ortega, including his wife Esperanza, her lover, Vigneault, and his business partner Hilario Miguel. With more bodies turning up, would Max be able to solve the mystery of who killed Ortega before it was too late?A very enjoyable tale! Definitely recommended.