The narrator of this story has just arrived in South America on a one-way ticket. We don't know her story at first, just that there is a tragedy in the background. Was she victim, villain, or something else?
While we ponder that we meet the other vacationers at the hacienda in rural Peru where she is staying. One is a sleazy actor, on the make. But the others may bear watching as well. And our protagonist just wants to be left alone to fulfill a grim promise...
This is one of those stories that sneaks up on you. I like a story in which a character has a second chance, as happens here, but I had no idea it would be my best of the week until I got to one sentence that made my jaw drop. If I had come up with that bit of plot I would have spent at least a page on it; Davidson fires it off in ten well-chosen words. Hammett and Stark would be proud.
I haven't got to this one yet, but you just sold me on it. I'm reading it tonight!
ReplyDelete-Bob D.