Crocodile Tears

(Paperback)

Publishing Details

Classifications

Physical Properties

Description

With this novel, Rosende joins the ranks of Claudia Pieiro, Patricia Melo and Mara Ins Krimer, who do not attempt to rework magic realism, but simply write good, witty and hard-hitting crime novels

It all starts in an overcrowded prison, where Diego is being held on a charge of kidnapping. Diego's lawyer, the fastidious Antinucci, secures Diego's release. But the lawyer has plans for his client, whose unexpected freedom comes at a price: he must join forces with a brutal psychopath, the Hobo, and hold up an armoured truck.

A hilarious caper ensues, as the robbery swiftly degenerates into mayhem and violence. While the men appear to be engaged in a perverse competition to see who is the most incompetent, the disparaged women Ursula Lopez, an amateur criminal with an insatiable appetite, and her rival, Captain Leonilda Lima reveal themselves to be the true protagonists. This seemingly classic lowlife crime story has a powerful message: never, ever underestimate the women.

'Rosende, an experience lawyer, writes with a laconic style, switching playfully between narrators, rhythms and tones. An author to relish.' Frankfurter Allgemeine

'Two genres merged seamlessly: the gangster saga and the psycho thriller, all spiced with black humour.' Sueddeutszche Zeitung

Reviews

Fast, slick and acerbically funny: buckle up and enjoy the ride. -Guardian It reads like a marvellous mash-up of Anita Brookner and Quentin Tarantino. The Times STARRED REVIEW Rosende smoothly combines dark humor and farce with moving depictions of the grimmer aspects of life. Elmore Leonard fans will look forward to the sequel. Publishers Weekly

"Two genres merged seamlessly: the gangster saga and the psycho thriller, all spiced with black humour." -- Sueddeutsche Zeitung.

"A new genre has emerged: the 'never underestimate the women' novel." - Kaliber 38

"Nothing is as it seems in the novel, the good are not so good, and the bad are not so bad; the guilty and innocent do not coincide with the true ones, and in the meantime, the Vivaldi Miserere plays on to atone for all the faults, ours and those of others." --Granizo

" Barrio by barrio, street by street, in the Ciudad Vieja, the port, the Rambla, in the rich and less salubrious areas, a vision of Uruguay less idyllic than what we are usually sold." -- Trappiche

Author Bio

Mercedes Rosende was born in 1958 in Montevideo, Uruguay. She is a lawyer and a journalist when not writing fiction. She has won many prizes for her novels and short stories. In 2005 she won the Premio Municipal de Narrativa fr Demasiados Blues, in 2008 the National Literature Prize for La Muerte Tendr tus Ojos and in 2019 the LiBeraturpreis in Germany for Crocodile Tears. She lives in Montevideo.