The Water Rituals

Set in Spain’s Basque region, Sáenz’s strong sequel to The Silence of the White City finds Insp. Unai López de Ayala unable to speak due to a head injury he suffered in the previous book. In addition, he’s unsure whether the child his boss and lover, Deputy Supt. Alba Díaz de Salvatierra, is carrying belongs to him or to her deceased serial killer husband. Despite Unai’s impairment, his partner, Insp. Estíbaliz Gauna, calls upon him when Estí’s first girlfriend, graphic novelist Annabel Lee, whom Unai knows, is found dead in a remote mountain location, hung by her feet with her head submerged in a Celtic cauldron. Another ritual murder follows, that of a close friend of Unai’s who attended the camp where he and Annabel met as teenagers in 1992. The apparent death in 1993 of the camp leader’s daughter is also cause for Unai and Estí to investigate anyone connected to the camp back then. Sáenz smoothly blends the police work with a close look at the psychologies of those involved. Readers who like crime fiction with a focus on matters of the heart will be well satisfied. (Mar.)