What would be two good novels are crammed together with some blowhardiness in the mix. The mystery doesn’t work and then has the tedious part of many mysteries: the scene where everything is either explained or explained away. The historical episodes are interesting but lead nowhere. Plus, the reproval of one character at the end seems rooted in prejudice when moral relativism abounds elsewhere.

The details of modern Cuba are the best part.

This is the eighth novel in Leonardo Padura’s Mario Conde series and the fourth novel since El Conde resigned from the Havana police. The novel is set in 2014 and Mario Conde is dreading his approaching 60th birthday.

One day Mario Conde receives a visit from a bloke he hasn’t seen since sixth form college, Roberto Roque Rosell, aka Bobby. They weren’t exactly friends but Conde feels some kind of amistad with the bloke as he tells his tale. Bobby explains that while he was at university, his girlfriend outed him and he was sent down. Later he attempted to redeem himself by marrying and having children, but ultimately his true nature prevailed and he left his wife and began having relationships with men. Meanwhile, he was making a lot of money buying and selling works of art. He eventually found a much younger bloke – Raydel – who moved in with him. However, while he was in Miami on business his lover betrayed him. Bobby returned from Miami to find that Raydel has ransacked his home and made off with art works, jewellery, furniture and – horror of horrors – a statuette of the virgin and child. Bobby is at pains to convince Conde that the virgin has no monetary value but his special religious powers and he credits the statuette with curing his cancer. For that reason he is prepared to pay Conde a generous daily rate and a handsome finder’s fee if he can recover the virgin.
I’ll say no more about the plot. Suffice to say that all our old friends are still part of Conde’s life and play their part in the investigation: Tamara, El Flaco, El Conejo, Candito, Yomi and Manolo Palacios (now a major). The plot is complicated. There are a couple of murders and several time warps as we go as far back as the thirteenth century at one point. For Bobby has lied to Conde. It turns out that the virgin is several hundred years old. She was taken from the Holy Land to Catalonia after the fall of Acre in 1291 and was brought to Cuba during the Spanish Civil War.
This novel is rather longer than the others in the series but that is a plus rather than a minus as the plot and back story deserve detailed exposition. It is tinged with poignancy as Conde is getting old, his friend El Conejo is considering leaving Cuba for Miami and Conde himself is struggling with the new world of mobile phones and laptops. I think we’re getting close to the end, not least because he won’t quit the cigarettes – or the rum.

Aging in Havana.
This is I believe the 9th novel featuring Padura's detective hero Mario Conde, whose age, since the 90's where the first published books take place, follows closely that of the author's. Padura has created a thoughtful and complex character who is experiencing life in Cuba with its turmoils and profound changes since the 60s revolutionary years and into the 21st century. Conde is about to hit 60 and he is contemplating life and the situation in Cuba with a more reflective mood but also a much bigger dosage of bitterness, frustration and hopelessness, observing the illnesses of his country and a deterioration (physical and societal) that noone seems to be able to stop. This general resignation to whatever "fate throws at you" is dominant throughout the book. The options for Padura seem to be limited for those who are not willing to sell their soul to the devil: You FLEE and have a life or you STAY and just about survive. One could argue that this is indeed the situation in Cuba but against the stories and the thoughts of the characters in the very books that Padura writes, this seems a bit too black and white for my liking.
Anyway, regarding this specific book, there is a crime of course that Conde finds himself involved. The reflective (and revisionist) mood is also projected here, in that Conde is asked to help an old schoolmate, Bobby, who being gay, had been ostracised by society and political system in the past, but is now an established art dealer in Havana with business that takes him often to the US. While abroad in one of his trips, Bobby has been robbed by his lover, who ran off with everything in their house he could get his hands on. For obvious reasons, Bobby prefers not to involve the police, especially as his main interest, and according to his claims, only precious item to recover, is a family heirloom, a black Madonna. Things of course are not what they seem and become sinister very quickly. The story introduces Conde (and us) to the unscrupulous and ruthless world of art dealers in Cuba but also interweaves a backstory of the Madonna, based on what is known of the history of similar artefacts, and how it ended in Cuba.
However, for me, the most engaging parts of the book were neither the unfolding crime story, if anything it had too many plot holes and a ludicrous resolution, nor the historical references, but rather Conde's conversations with his friends and his inner thoughts, doubts and fears. The chapters that refer to the Madonna are well written and "epic" in their descriptions of the past (kudos to the translator as well). There is much food for thought in these sections that links to whatever is happening in the present (eg how humans respond to fear, to mention one example), but they are long and I found them somewhat distracting and almost belonging to another type of book altogether, even with the "twist" in the end (you will see what I mean if you read the book!).
One final comment .... For those who have read Padura's books, I think it is fair to say that he does not do gender diversity or women very well, or at least that gay and female characters lack any complexity or depth .... His gay characters are mostly bitter and hysterical. As for the women .... There are again some stereotypes ... "the mother", "the seductress", and nothing much more or in-between.... Reading this 9th book, it struck me that his friend's mother was probably the same age as his partner Tamara when we were first introduced to the characters of his books, but she has always been portrayed as a serving and asexual figure of undefined "old age" .... I even think her age, referred to as almost 90 in this last book, is stretched to make her older .... One can argue that Padura writes honestly, reflecting his male characters' shortcomings and perceptions but still ...
So, 3.5 stars really ... Despite my last comment, there is much to like and I want more of Conde. I look forward to the next book.

Hay dos historias intercaladas, la de una Virgen medieval, que no me interesa nada y me la he leído en diagonal apresurada, y la de la investigación de su robo en la Habana, que está bien, pero cada vez se me hacen más cuesta arriba estas voces de tío que hablan de las mujeres casi solo por su físico, aunque teniendo la precaución de añadir que aparte de estar buenísimas son listas, buenas o amables, para que no parezca que están de adorno, como de hecho están.

(Pas réussi à entrer dedans à cause du personnage principal un peu beauf, un peu sexiste et homophobe ; j'ai eu la flemme)

Review to follow

Para quienes hemos seguido esta serie, este libro es un homenaje a Conde, el detective habanero que nos enamoró por sus aires de poeta maldito y su buena moral latina, sus decisiones pero también los achaques de la vejez que a todos quienes los conocemos, puede parecernos incluso tierna.
El final un poco predecible pero interesante por el asomo del fin de una era de escasez y dificultades y partidas dolorosas en busca de algo un poco mejor.
También me pareció un magistral manejo de los personajes, son imperfectos y deducibles por un poco de lujo en una vida que les ha tratado mal. La buena mesa y los buenos vinos y las buenas pinturas, que vienen del contrabando, son una mirada interesante a esa Cuba qué el autor mira sin miedo y sin amor desmedido.

La forma de escribir de Leonardo Padura me parece fascinante: sus personajes siempre son muy bien construidos y los diálogos tienen mucha verosimilitud. El personaje de Mario Conde es absolutamente complejo y si uno lee varias novelas de la colección entiende cómo este personaje se va desarrollando y va adquiriendo una profundidad que permite mucha empatía. A pesar de lo anterior, la historia que se cuenta en La Transparencia del tiempo no me conectó como esperaba.

Mario Conde ya está a punto de cumplir 60 años, es un policía ya retirado que se siente cansado y que aún así parece seguir siendo un imán para los misterios. En esta ocasión Padura nos lleva, a través de Conde, por el desaparición de una misteriosa Virgen tallada en madera y que parece ser una Virgen de Regla (que es negra) como muchas en Cuba. En el transcurso de la historia, Mario Conde advierte que no es una Virgen cualquiera, que puede tener un valor y un precio insospechado que explican su misteriosa desaparición.

Rescato la escritura de Padura que me parece prolija y envolvente, pero la historia me resultó plana hasta el punto de haberme decepcionado.