The Lords of Time by Eva Garcia Sáenz

Author: Eva Garcia Sáenz

Title: The Lords of Time 

Publisher: Random  House 

Published: 2021

Pages: 400

Genre: Crime Thriller 

     Kraken is enjoying life as a family man, content to spend his days with Alba and their young daughter Deba. But there’s no rest for the weary, especially when you’re the most famous investigator in Vitoria. Kraken and Esti are charged with investigating the mysterious disappearance of two sisters and finding it hard to make any headway when a wealthy businessman’s murder appears to shine a light on the case. The man was poisoned with a medieval aphrodisiac–a crime that has eerie similarities to one detailed in the novel everyone in Vitoria is buzzing about. When the two sisters are discovered trapped behind a wall–bricked up alive–the parallels to the novel are undeniable. With the author’s identity a closely held secret, will Kraken be able to track down the killer before they can strike again? Or will Vitoria’s sordid underworld finally break Kraken, and his family, apart?

     For me, The Lords of Time was always going to be a little bitter-sweet. I have come to love my time with Kraken since first opening the pages of The Silence of The White City. This was a series of books that I found myself not being able to put down each time I had one in my hands. Which I suppose is why I had put this one off for a couple of months. It is always a struggle when you come to the end of a series no matter how long or short. But I suppose we should be grateful to have been able to read them to start with. Each time with this author I have greatly enjoyed how she has made me work for the endings. each time I try to battle my wits against hers and solve the puzzle before it is time. The sheer amount of time and research she puts into her books make them worthy adversaries for any lover of crime fiction. But as much as I would have liked this series to continue here we are and it was time to jump into the final case for Kraken and his misfit family. With my fingers crossed that it would live up to what I had hoped it to be. 

     When it comes to The Lords of Time it defiantly helps to have read those that have come before. Too much history has passed between those returning characters to simply jump in and expect to understand the dynamics. But for those who have been on this journey with them, it was great to see how their strands started to come together. Each character in some ways has a conclusion fitting for them. But much like in life our author does not attempt to fit everything up with a nice bow. Lives are complicated and even in fictitious circumstances, they will go on after we have turned the last page. But for Kraken at least we have some closure for this journey he has been on. It was most enjoyable to see all those puzzle pieces we have been collecting since the start final find their places. And as always we are expected to see the bigger picture for as worth a hero as he is this author also tries to show us the nature of the town he calls home both intertwined as one. Equally capable of showing compassion as divine justice on those that have wronged them. 

     When it comes to this book though it is not all about just one last case and the book gets split into two. The second part being set way before the events of our current timeline.  At the tail end of the eleven hundreds, we are introduced to a waring family and their ability to govern or not the town they call home. This may seem slightly odd in the pantheons of modern detective fiction but as with all our favorite authors they have a way of bringing all things together and for me, it works here. It allows us context for events that are unfolding and a greater understanding of not only the world Kraken calls home but the region as a whole. She shows the echoes of not only our own pastes but the very ground beneath our feet. It always fansites me home much history repeats its self. All the while we continue on thinking it is all new that we are in fact trailblazers. Whilst these moments in between by no means take up the bulk of the book the author sure manages to cram a great deal of plotting and betrayals into this world and I can safely say I was just as absorbed by these passages as the ones taking place in the present. 

     For me, I will always enjoy the writing of Eva Garcia Sáenz she manages to build complex character-driven narratives that challenge her readers at each turn. We are never treated look fools or spoon-fed things to grease the wheels of the plot. But instead, have to work for our conclusions.  I would assume that when you are wrapping up one of your most beloved characters it must be a strain to try and get it right. After all, this is the book you will be judged on the one readers will remember. And for me, I felt she did a great job of keeping us on stable ground. Still there are the complexities intertwined with some great action and wrapped up in so more heartfelt moment. The Lords of Time is still a book that challenges its readers and for me, that is what the best crime fiction does. and whilst there is of course room for its more of its Hollywood-driven cousins I think I will always seek out books of this ilk first and foremost. 

     I don't think we are ever ready for a series to end that we have enjoyed so much. And no matter what transpires we are always left feeling a little cheated. Forever grasping for a little more. But within these pages, I felt the author had done a great job at wrapping up her hero's tale. It will join its siblings on my forever shelf and maybe in a few years' time when the memories of these books have faded a little I shall pick them up and experience these brilliant tales once more.