The foreign girls by Sergio Olguin

 

Name of Book: The Foreign Girls

Author: Sergio Olguin

ISBN: 978-1-913394-38-7

Publisher: Bitter Lemon Press

Part of a Series: Veronica Rosenthal Mysteries 

Type of book: Mystery, thriller, 2000s, vacation, experimenting, murder, classicism, eurocentric, murder, Argentina, journalism, evidence, corruption   

Year it was published: (2014) 2021

Summary:

Two foreign girls are murdered after a high society party in Yacanto del Valle, northern Argentina. Their bodies are found in a field near sacrificial offerings, apparently from a black magic ritual. Verónica Rosenthal, an audacious, headstrong Buenos Aires journalist with a proclivity for sexual adventure, could never have imagined that her holiday would end with her two friends dead. Not trusting the local police, she decides to investigate for herself.

Review

Foreign Girls

“Foreign Girls is not only a crime novel with the thrills and pace of a roller coaster, but also a story where love is the key, justice is fundamental and vengeance becomes a necessity.”-- Telam

“An unusual and captivating heroine.”i--Página/12

“Olguín narrates as brilliantly as Maradona played football.”-- Süddeutsche Zeitung

“A passionate story of intrigue and a broad fresco of contemporary Argentinean society.”--La voz del interior.

Characters:

Main characters include Veronica Rosenthal, a young and beautiful investigative journalist who is into sexual escapades and who is highly independent and doesn't desire marriage nor children and not even a pet. Recently she went through hell from the prequels previous events and only desires a vacation and to get herself together so to speak, which explains why she leaves Buenos Aires and goes to Tucuman and Jejuy. Of course some events follow her there. Federico is a man who works for Veronicas father and who always had longtime feelings for her, but Veronica often sees that as incest because he works for her father and is often regarded as a brother by her family. Other characters in there are minor, such as the foreign girls, the locals and young women who know too much. 

Theme:

One never knows how adventure will begin and end 

Plot:

The story is in third person narrative from many character's points of view. While most of the narrative is from Veronicas, other characters such as Three, a man determined to assassinate Veronica as well as Federico and a young woman who knows too much for her own good also make appearances. The tale begins shortly after it's predecessor ends, with Veronica needing a vacation from her life and traveling to Jejuy and Tucuman. While there she gets into a more dangerous mystery than before and it is also there she begins to do some changes on herself, examining herself and her needs. 

 
Author Information:
(From the book)

Sergio Olguin was born in Buenos Aires in 1967. His first work of fiction, Lanus, was published in 2002. It was followed by a number of sucessful novels, including Oscura monotona sangre (Dark Monotonous Blood) which won the Tusqets Prize in 2009. His books have been translated into English, German, French and Italian. The Foreign Girls, following on from the success of The Fragility of Bodies, is the second in a crime series featuring journalist Veronica Rosenthal. Sergio Olguin is also a scriptwriter and has been the editor of a number of cultural publications. 

Opinion:

Ever since I read the previous book, THE FRAGILITY OF BODIES, I was really excited and couldn't wait for the sequel to appear. ( speaking of sequels, when is the third book coming out?) I honestly find it amazing how the author continues to make Veronica Rosenthal fascinating. I thought I knew whatever there was to know about her, but no. THE FOREIGN GIRLS adds even more layers to the awesome investigative journalist. I did understand the mystery, but there is a whole lot going on in the story, basically more than the basic who did it mystery, which made it difficult for me to understand how sideplots and whatnot relate together. Guess I need to do a reread. 

This was given for a review 

5 out of 5
(0: Stay away unless a masochist 1: Good for insomnia 2: Horrible but readable; 3: Readable and quickly forgettable, 4: Good, enjoyable 5: Buy it, keep it and never let it go.)