"Those Who Knew" is an enjoyable read. Its suspenseful tale centers around a politician and the suspicions of an ex-lover of his who believes he has committed a murder. The story unfolds slowly revealing element after element of the politician's character rather than following the usual suspense story that reveals more and more clues about an event until the suspense is finally resolved.
The writing is good: characters are believable, the events plausible, the handling of details succinct and yet compete. I found myself engrossed in the story and enjoying it, surprised at how quickly I read the entire novel.
I originally planned to give this book a 4 star rating, but when I compared it to others I had given 4 stars to, it was just not up to their caliber. My two primary objections and reasons for the lower rating were that, while the story was suspenseful, the reader pretty much knows how it will turn out. Various hints and foreshadowing incidents reinforce the final conclusion about the central event of the story. The second thing that bothered me about the story was that the two mysterious events described in the beginning and becoming the foundation of why the protagonist felt called upon to reveal the politician's crime, if there had been one, were never adequately explained. There were explanations offered, but these explanations conflicted with the details of the events and were insufficient to explain and dismiss the strange happenings.
I did enjoy the book and it is pretty good, worth recommending in spite of its flaws, but just not as good as a book earning a 4 star rating ought to be, ( )

"Those Who Knew" is an enjoyable read. Its suspenseful tale centers around a politician and the suspicions of an ex-lover of his who believes he has committed a murder. The story unfolds slowly revealing element after element of the politician's character rather than following the usual suspense story that reveals more and more clues about an event until the suspense is finally resolved.
The writing is good: characters are believable, the events plausible, the handling of details succinct and yet compete. I found myself engrossed in the story and enjoying it, surprised at how quickly I read the entire novel.
I originally planned to give this book a 4 star rating, but when I compared it to others I had given 4 stars to, it was just not up to their caliber. My two primary objections and reasons for the lower rating were that, while the story was suspenseful, the reader pretty much knows how it will turn out. Various hints and foreshadowing incidents reinforce the final conclusion about the central event of the story. The second thing that bothered me about the story was that the two mysterious events described in the beginning and becoming the foundation of why the protagonist felt called upon to reveal the politician's crime, if there had been one, were never adequately explained. There were explanations offered, but these explanations conflicted with the details of the events and were insufficient to explain and dismiss the strange happenings.
I did enjoy the book and it is pretty good, worth recommending in spite of its flaws, but just not as good as a book earning a 4 star rating ought to be, ( )

It was an interesting premise with multiple twists and turns. The primary characters were enjoyable, though at times confusing and difficult to follow. The intriguing aspect of the book was how the author interspersed a play’s script, along with random letters to a known lover of a primary character Olga. I enjoyed the novel but there were too many gaps in character development for me or I just missed them, which was possible. Overall, I’d recommend it. ( )

A volatile, unnamed, South American island nation in the early aughts, recovering from a repressive regime that had been aided by the U.S. Lena finds the sweater of murdered student Maria P. (murdered, Lena believes, by her abusive ex, charismatic progressive politician Victor) in her bag. Did Victor commit murder? "Who wants to hear it? People are too desperate for a hero." Timely and intelligent. ( )