MASCARAS (TUSQUETS #292) (P)

"Mascaras is part of the tetralogy « The Four Seasons, featuring lieutenant Conde. Through this likeable character, Padura traces both the small triumphs and the great adversities of daily life in contemporary Cuba, while submitting it to a profound serutiny. The corpse of a transvestite is found in a Havana Forest. To add to Conde's problems, this « woman dressed in red is actually Alexis Arayan, the son of a respected diplomat of the Cuban regime. The investigation begins with Conde's visit to the extraordinary Marques, a man of letters and a homosexual, who has been exiled within his own country to a ruined old mansion. Conde gradually enters the seedy world into which Marques introduces him, a world inhabited by beings who appear to know the whole truth about Alexis Arayan.