http://bactra.org/weblog/algae-2021-09.html#pawel ( )

A city-dwelling, communist sympathizer marries fascist Civil Guard officer at end of the Spanish Civil War (before WW2) and has a hard time finding happiness until she has a baby and gets kidnapped. A perfect anti-fem book with spunky gal getting spelunked.

Found as a last minute airplane read. Tries to detail some north Spain history (gets one star for trying, another because I am a nice guy). ( )

Lt. Carlos Tejada of Franco's Guardia Civil and his bride, Elena Fernandez, from a completely different background, travel to the mountain village of Potes as the war in Europe heats up and Loyalist guerrillas are still fighting in the mountains. Although Carlos' and Elena's politics are different, they share a basic integrity that allows them to be together. This episode in their story was more interesting for the characters than for the plot, but still very much worth reading. ( )

Unexpectedly delightful! I now wish I'd started at the beginning of the series, but sometimes when I do that I wish I'd just tried a book from somewhere in the middle. Can't win really.

I had to look up the background to this book, set in the aftermath of the Spanish civil war, as I was entirely hazy on the whole concept. I was surprised to find the main character, Tejada, on Franco's side (sort of). But it becomes clearer as the book goes on that there is more to it than that. I'm guessing that the relationship with his wife Elena, which adds a lot to the political balance of the story, was built up in the previous books. This would have been a poorer book without Elena. ( )

As a Spaniard living in far away Alaska I took "The Watcher in the Pine" with a little bit of incredulity. I couldn't picture somebody from a different culture being able to portrait accurately the day to day life of a small town in the Picos de Europa. Moreover the time period is one of political unrest and strong division in the country.
Also, I lived for a number of years in Oviedo, the capital of one of the provinces divided by the Picos de Europa. So it was a pleasant surprise when I started to recognize pretty accurate portraits of local types. The bar tender, the priest, the guardias themselves, have an air of authenticity. Not only that, he landscape is true to the area. It was with a certain familiarity that I read the encounter of Tejada with the priest, who's fishing on the river. The time of day, the scenery, even the repetitive casting while talking, were something I have experienced myself, and that I only got exposed to once I started living in that area.
From the point of view of the story, the unraveling of the plot seems flawless and not over predictable, which is a problem that I find in many whodonnits.
If you like the stile of Donna Leon or Andrea Camilleri, you'll probably find "The Watcher in the Pine" interesting at the very least. ( )