The Invisible Guardian by Dolores Redondo

Author : Dolores Redondo

Title : The Invisible Guardian

Published : 
Pages : 28/01/2016
Genre : Crime Fiction

Publisher : Harper

      The body of a teenage girl has been found on the banks of the River Baztán – the second in a month. Soon rumors are flying in the village of Elizondo. Is this the work of a serial killer, or something even more sinister? Inspector Amaia Salazar leads the investigation, returning to the Basque country where she was born. Shrouded in mist and surrounded by forest, it conceals a terrible secret from Amaia’s childhood that has come back to haunt her.Facing the superstitions of the village, Amaia must fight the demons of her past in order to catch the killer. But what is the dark presence she senses lurking in the shadows?

     I'm a big fan of foreign language films, so awhile ago I watched the film this book was based on. I didn't realize there was a book until I was in my local bookstore and saw a copy on there display by the till. having enjoyed the film I grabbed a copy, Usually finding the books to be a much more fulfilling experience. 

     The Basque setting is something that doesn't often come up in entertainment. My knowledge of this region mostly comes from brief mentions on the news about there struggles for independents. It to me seems like a shame that it is not used more often as it strikes me as an amazing location to set a story in. It worked for me as the backdrop for Amaia Salazar and her murder investigation. She is another in a line of great well thought out and hard-nosed detectives. The author combines within her an ability to hunt the best of serial killers while trying to balance her family life. Having spent a great deal of time away from her homeland and family she struggles to deal with there sense of abandonment they hold against her. It is interesting to see these strong bonds push to the limit as tensions start to build. It is within these bonds that the story holds it's own due to it being set in a small town, everyone knows everyone else. It fascinates me with a novel like this how claustrophobic an author can make a small town feel. 

     Redondo has written a book that held my attention from start to finish. She has created a world that keeps the reader close by. So much so that you can almost smell the forests and river as you work your way through the book, and allows you to get a real sense of this region of the world. With all this going on it only adds to heighten the mystery elements of the book. And it has to be said for me this was an amazing book to get lost into. She has taken her time in the weaving of this yarn, I think if not for having seen the film first I would have been trying to beat the detective to the conclusion. I really envy those who came to book without ever having seen the film. One of the many things for me the book had over the film is the authors use of the myths and legends of the area, which I think played out far better in the written form. It allowed my imagination to take a better hold of what might be lurking out in the woods that surround the village. 

     This is a book that I will be recommending to a lot of people in the coming months. It contained so many of the things I look forward to in a good crime mystery book. It is completely an unputdownable novel so much so that when I finished it I immediately went a looked to see if there were any more. Much to my joy, there are two more books, hopefully just as good as this one.