
From the award-winning, internationally acclaimed screenwriter of Amores perros, 21 Grams, and Babel, A Sweet Scent of Death is Guillermo Arriaga's tale of deception, passion, and violence fused together by the tragic killing of a young girl in a small Mexican village.
Early one morning in a deserted field, Ramón Castaños is confronted with the dead body of Adela, a lovely young girl, whom he had only admired from afar. Within an hour, rumor of the death of Ramón Castaños's girlfriend has spread to every corner of Loma Grande. This powder-trail of gossip ignites further violence when the villagers, thirsty for revenge, cast about for answers and hit upon the nomadic José Echeverri-Berriozábal, known as "the Gypsy." Honor then demands that Ramón must now live out his imaginary past in a brutal reality and prove his manhood by avenging Adela's cruel fate.
If you agree ... keep reading and you may be surprised by what I have to say.
I gave up reading this short, 160 page read after about 10 chapters. I thought this was going to be a crime fiction novel - especially considering the tag line - "A Sweet Scent of Death is Guillermo Arriaga's tale of deception, passion, and violence fused together by the tragic killing of a young girl in a small Mexican village." Dissapointingly, this novel is more like a soap opera twisted and gorified with unnecessary graphic details about a dead body found in a deserted field than a crime fiction novel. The amount of detail describing the dead girls' body and how it is decomposing is far more than I care to read about - thank you very much. Trust me ... seriously overkill.
In addition, the way the lead character, Ramon Castanos, is sucked into avenging the death of this girl is so completely rediculous that I find it hard to believe anyone would continue to read this book beyond the point I have reached. Essentially what happens is that, within an hour of finding the girls' body, a rumor starts that she was Ramon's girlfriend (which she wasn't). Honor then demands that Ramon must now live out his imaginary past in a brutal reality and prove his manhood by avenging Adela's cruel fate.
Now, how's that for rediculous! Who the hell would go along with a rumor if they knew that, by doing so, would put their life at risk? Especially if they don't have any personal connection to that person and/or are not a member of law enforcement? Seriously ... I know this is fiction but give me a break!
All in all ... I would say pass on this one. There are FAR better crime fiction novels out there than wasting your time on this one.
Instead try the new one I'm reading ... The Unquiet by John Connelly. Two chapters into this one and I'm already finding it hard to put down.
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