#BookReview The Invisible Guardian by Dolores Redondo (@DoloresRedondoM)

The Invisible Guardian by Dolores Redondo
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A killer at large in a remote Basque Country valley, a detective to rival Clarice Starling, myth versus reality, masterful storytelling - the Spanish bestseller that has taken Europe by storm.

The naked body of a teenage girl is found on the banks of the River Baztán. Less than 24 hours after this discovery, a link is made to the murder of another girl the month before. Is this the work of a ritualistic killer or of the Invisible Guardian, the Basajaun, a creature of Basque mythology?

30-year-old Inspector Amaia Salazar heads an investigation which will take her back to Elizondo, the village in the heart of Basque country where she was born, and to which she had hoped never to return. A place of mists, rain and forests. A place of unresolved conflicts, of a dark secret that scarred her childhood and which will come back to torment her.

Torn between the rational, procedural part of her job and local myths and superstitions, Amaia Salazar has to fight off the demons of her past in order to confront the reality of a serial killer at loose in a region steeped in the history of the Spanish Inquisition.

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I just want to say before I review this book that it's very handy to have all three books to read. Or perhaps as audiobooks as I did. Well, the first book did I have both as a paperback and audiobook, but I preferred listening to them. The narrator is fabulous! Anyway, they are so good all three, and it's like one book split into three parts. So, get all three!

In The Invisible Guardian do we get introduced to Amaia Salazar who will lead the investigation of the death of the teenage girl found on the banks of the River Baztán. She herself has grown up in the village of Elizondo close to where the girl was found and returning there with her husband, who is an American artist, will bring back dark memories. Her childhood was very traumatic and this still affects her life. Then, the killer strikes again. Is there a serial killer loose or is it the Basajaun who is killing the girls?

The Invisible Guardian is just my kind of book with an interesting main character who has to return home to a town that has a lot of superstitions. I love small town settings when it comes to crime novels, especially towns with secrets. The setting of the town of Elizondo in a Basque valley added to my interest since I knew nothing about the history of the Basque people and this was like taking a step back in time to a more superstitious time. I quite liked getting to know more about the invisible guardian, the Basajaun, a creature of Basque mythology that is said to protect the forests. The Invisible Guardian is a great book that I recommend warmly!