The Hand that Feeds You

February 24, 2023

The Hand that Feeds You

by Mercedes Rosende

"Murder and Mayhem in Montevideo"

The Hand that Feeds You by Mercedes Rosende

translated by Tim Gutteridge

is published on 23rd February 2023 by Bitter Lemon Press.

My thanks to the author and publisher who sent me a copy and Random Book Tours for inviting me to take part on the tour.

Synopsis

The return of Ursula - Montevideo’s unlikely criminal mastermind

The attempted robbery of an armoured car in the back streets of Montevideo is a miserable failure. But it turns out to be a lucky break for the intrepid Ursula Lopez who manages to snatch all the loot, more hindered than helped by her faint-hearted and reluctant companion Diego.

Only now, the wannabe robbers are hot on her heels.

As are the police.

And Ursula’s sister Luz.

But the irresistible Ursula turns out to be enormously talented when it comes to criminal undertakings, and given the hilarious ineptitude of those in pursuit, she might just pull it off.

The story of inept males failing miserably at even the simplest criminal tasks is familiar to Cohen Brothers fans.

Those who loved Burn After Reading and Fargo will love the Ursula Lopez thrillers

My Review

This is a novel that at first comes over as funny and very tongue in cheek as far as the characters and storyline are concerned. However, once it starts to develop there is a depth to the characters, especially Ursula, that evolves as the story progresses and we see how she has been affected by her relationship with her “Daddy” and the presence he still commands in her life from beyond the grave.

The novel evolves around four different women, linked to each other by different relationships and our understanding of how these change as their feelings and emotions come to light and how, in many respects, they are all escaping !!!!! It is refreshing to read a "tongue in cheek" novel where women are the main characters who win due to the criminal males failing at even the simplest of tasks.

This is a light hearted, easy read of a funny thriller that won’t give you sleepless nights but will give you a laugh and an insight into the ingenuity of Ursula against the ineptitude of those who are in pursuit of her. There are times when this farcical comedy brings back memories of Monty Python for those of us of a certain age and I , for one, would quite like to see it transcribed to the screen.

I hope we can look forward to more exploits in Montevideo from our heroine in the not too distant future.

Author

Mercedes Rosende was born in 1958 in Montevideo , Uruguay. She is a lawyer and a journalist when not writing fiction. She has won many prizes for her novels and short stories. In 2005 she won the Premio Municipal de Narrativa for “Demasiados blues”, in 2008the National Literature Prize for “ La Juergen tundra thus Amos” and in 2019 the LiBeraturpreis in Germany for “Crocodile Tears”, the first in the Ursula Lopez series. She lives in Ortigueira, La Coruna, Spain.