Blood Wedding

A beautifully rendered setting and memorable characters more than offset the rambling narrative of this debut, the first of a projected series from British author Brooke (the husband-wife team of Philip O'Brien and Jane Brooke) to feature an appealing Scots-Spanish detective whose mixed heritage gives him valuable perspective. Sub-Insp. Max Romero, a liaison to the Muslim community, is the man in the middle as the impact of the death of pretty young graduate student Leila Mahfouz, in the Spanish village of Diva near Grenada, ripples outward. Mahfouz's demise sparks both a murder investigation and a politically motivated inquiry into the “European Training Centre for young Muslim entrepreneurs.” A stain of corruption reaching back to the 1936 death of poet Federico García Lorca provides a haunting counterpoint to the current crime. Romero, besides assisting the local police investigation, must also deal with pressure from a powerful antiterrorist group. The many plot threads of this thought-provoking mystery can be hard to follow, but readers who persevere will feel well rewarded. (Dec.)