The Water Rituals

Unai Lopez de Ayala might have survived a gunshot on the head and managed to catch one of the most notorious serial killers of his time in the previous book, but things have not turned out as he hoped. He struggles with communication, as the wound on his head left him unable to put his thoughts into words. On top of that, his boss and woman he loves, Deputy Superintendent Alba Díaz de Salvatierra tells him she is pregnant.

In the meantime, the body of a brutally murdered woman is discovered hung upside down on a mountain top and Inspector Estibaliz Gauna believes her best friend and partner is the most suited person for the job. But the face of that woman is not unfamiliar to Unai. Shadows from the summer of 1972 come to haunt the detective and place more obstacles to an already bleak investigation.

One of the things I loved most about this book was the transitions between past and present. I loved how the details painted a very clear picture of the character dynamics in the past and how contradictory they were with the present.

Once again, I found the balance between character and plot development to be excellent. Saenz has a gift for developing her characters while pushing the story forward without delays, lengthy descriptions and exaggerations, which I think is one of the best qualities a writer can possess.

For the entire 437 pages, I analyzed, expected and investigated along with Unai, all in hopes to find the killer before the protagonist. The twists and turns made me second guess everything. I sat comfortably in my theories for a page or two, only to have them proven wrong again and again. The last 100 pages really did a number on me.

One thing I would have loved this book to have is a longer final battle, like in the previous one. Although it was frustrating -and I mean that in the best way possible- to read who was the killer and how they were captured, that one on one scene for me needed something more to make this a 5star read. Yet that was still nothing short of a rollercoaster. My emotions ranged from the excitement of catching the killer, to the sadness brought by the final revelations, to the relief in the end. All of that in a mere 20 pages.

I am very pleased with how this book ended and I am thrilled to visit our characters one last time in the third and final installment of the series, The Lords Of Time!