The Good Suicides

The Good Suicides is an example of an interestingly rare phenomenon. Often when a reader begins with a series and reads the first two books, they are designed to be read as stand-alones. That makes it easier to market the books because it doesn’t matter where the new reader starts. But in some cases, the two books are sufficiently interdependent, it’s better to read them together.

This is one of those rare cases in which the first, The Summer of Dead Toys, was fairly good. But the second casts such a different light on the events described in the first that reading the second distinctly improves the worth of the first. It’s a great shame we’ve had to wait between the two books. They are translated from the Spanish and the publication dates of the English editions could have been closer together. Putting that to one side, the effect of the two books read together is highly recommended. Although we’re deep into the reality of middle class Spain, the way in which the relationships blend together or are in conflict achieves true universality. This pair of books is as much about the people as it is a police procedural into murders.