Death on a Galician Shore

In Spanish author Villar’s enthralling sequel to 2009’s Water-blue Eyes, the apparent drowning of a fisherman, Justo Castelo, under suspicious circumstances develops into a complex inquiry for Det. Insp. Leo Caldas. The dead man was found floating off the coastal town of Panxón in Galicia, but the pathologist questions whether the death was either self-inflicted or accidental. An interview with Castelo’s sister reveals that he was traumatized in 1996 by the sinking of a fishing vessel one night during a storm. Castelo and his two crewmates swam ashore, but the captain drowned. That someone wrote “murderers” on the side of Castelo’s boat on the anniversary of the sinking, just before his death, suggests that the truth behind his demise is rooted in the past. The amusing byplay between the likable Caldas and his acerbic assistant, Rafael Estevez, lightens what might otherwise be an unrelentingly grim tale. (Dec.)