Publisher Description

With this novel, Rosende joins the ranks of Claudia Pieiro, Patricia Melo and Mara Ins Krimer, who do not attempt to rework magic realism, but simply write good, witty and hard-hitting crime novelsIt all starts in an overcrowded prison, where Diego is being held on a charge of kidnapping. Diego's lawyer, the fastidious Antinucci, secures Diego's release. But the lawyer has plans for his client, whose unexpected freedom comes at a price: he must join forces with a brutal psychopath, the Hobo, and hold up an armoured truck.A hilarious caper ensues, as the robbery swiftly degenerates into mayhem and violence. While the men appear to be engaged in a perverse competition to see who is the most incompetent, the disparaged women - Ursula Lopez, an amateur criminal with an insatiable appetite, and her rival, Captain Leonilda Lima - reveal themselves to be the true protagonists. This seemingly classic lowlife crime story has a powerful message: never, ever underestimate the women.'Rosende, an experience lawyer, writes with a laconic style, switching playfully between narrators, rhythms and tones. An author to relish.' - Frankfurter Allgemeine'Two genres merged seamlessly: the gangster saga and the psycho thriller, all spiced with black humour.' - Sueddeutszche Zeitung

Author Biography

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 für 'Demasiados Blues', in 2008 the National Literature Prize for 'La Muerte Tendrá tus Ojos' and in 2019 the LiBeraturpreis in Germany for 'Crocodile Tears'. Shelives in Montevideo.

Review

"Fast, slick and acerbically funny: buckle up and enjoy the ride." -Guardian "It reads like a marvellous mash-up of Anita Brookner and Quentin Tarantino." The Times STARRED REVIEW "Rosende smoothly combines dark humor and farce with moving depictions of the grimmer aspects of life. Elmore Leonard fans will look forward to the sequel." Publishers Weekly "Two genres merged seamlessly: the gangster saga and the psycho thriller, all spiced with black humour." -- Sueddeutsche Zeitung. "A new genre has emerged: the 'never underestimate the women' novel." - Kaliber 38 "Nothing is as it seems in the novel, the good are not so good, and the bad are not so bad; the guilty and innocent do not coincide with the true ones, and in the meantime, the Vivaldi Miserere plays on to atone for all the faults, ours and those of others." --Granizo " Barrio by barrio, street by street, in the Ciudad Vieja, the port, the Rambla, in the rich and less salubrious areas, a vision of Uruguay less idyllic than what we are usually sold." -- Trappiche

Long Description

"Fast, slick and acerbically funny: buckle up and enjoy the ride." Guardian"It reads like a marvellous mash-up of Anita Brookner and Quentin Tarantino." The TimesSTARRED REVIEW "Rosende smoothly combines dark humor and farce with moving depictions of the grimmer aspects of life. Elmore Leonard fans will look forward to the sequel." Publishers WeeklyThe story is set in Uruguay, it starts in a Montevideo prison where Diego waits for his lawyer, the slick Dr Antinucci, always raybanned, chain-smoking, never frisked by the prison guards. Diego, betrayed by his partner in crime, was arrested for kidnapping a businessman. But charges will not be pressed. The businessman and his wife have described Diego as duped by his partner, certainly no master criminal, so he will be let out. But Antonucci has plans for him, a favour must be returned for his surprising freedom, he must join forces with the psychopath the Hobo and hold up an armoured truck in Montevideo. The mad and hilarious caper includes the robbery of course which degenerates into appalling violence, a few murders, and the general bungling of affairs by all the men involved. It is the belittled women, including Police Inspector Lima, who end up the true heroines of the story. This seemingly classic lowlife crime story has a powerful message: never, ever underestimate the women. All told with excoriating wit and humour from the Rio de la Plata.

Review Quote

"Rosende, an experienced lawyer, writes with a laconic style, switchingplayfully between narrators, rhythms and tones. An author to relish." -Frankfurter Allgemeine "Two genres merged seamlessly: the gangster saga and the psycho thriller,all spiced with black humour." -- Sueddeutsche Zeitung. "A new genre has emerged: the 'never underestimate the women' novel." - Kaliber 38 "Nothing is as it seems in the novel, the good are not so good, and the bad are not so bad; the guilty and innocent do not coincide with the true ones, and in the meantime, the Vivaldi Miserere plays on to atone for all thefaults, ours and those of others." --Granizo " Barrio by barrio, street by street, in the Ciudad Vieja, the port, the Rambla, in the rich and less salubrious areas, a vision of Uruguay lessidyllic than what we are usually sold." -- Trappiche

Description for Sales People

1. Crocodile Tears won the prestigious 2019 LiBeraturpreis in Germany, an award given in previous years to Patricia Melo and Claudia Pineiro, both BLP authors. "Fast, slick and acerbically funny: buckle up and enjoy the ride." Guardian 2. Our first book from Uruguay and the first time Mercedes Rosende is available in English. Another novel will follow with the same female protagonists but new male villains. 3. The story of inept males failing miserably at even the simplest criminal tasks is familiar to Cohen Brother fans. Those who lovedBurn After Reading (catastrophic blackmailing) and especially Fargo (failed kidnappings) will rejoice when reading Crocodile Tears. And they will have the bonus of discovering a new country and city with its own social and political ills. The petty criminals in this story are great fun as are the other bottom feeders encountered. 4. Wonderful female characters: The novel could have been another mundane male loser story, but Rosende introduces two fascinating women. The first is Ursula Lopez, once a shy girl affected by an eating disorder and bullied by her father. Now an overweight and sometimes cruel woman living alone, suffering from self-hate. Her involvement in the armoured truck caper seems a possible path to some sort of salvation. The second is the cop Leonilda Lima, underestimated and bullied by her male colleagues, but smarter than the men, the only person in dark, rainy Montevideo intelligent and persistent enough to tie together kidnapping, murder and robbery. 5. Extraordinary writing: Not one to delve in uber-long Latin American sentences and paragraphs, Rosende writes with great wit in short punchy prose, relying on, like the best American noir writers like James Ellroy or George V. Higgins, dialogue above all else to carry the story. And she can mine the varied and fertile layers of a society undermined by corruption, economic hardship and political expedience.

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