The Hand That Feeds You by Mercedes Rosende

 

Ursula Lopez is a middle-aged woman who is a little overweight, a little amoral and maybe just a little crazy. She is also light years smarter than the bumbling criminals, corrupt lawyers, and police in Montevideo, Uruguay. Ursula comes upon an armored car robbery gone horribly wrong and walks away with the cash, along with a reluctant and horribly anxiety-prone accomplice. Now the question is how to get away with it and get the criminals and cops off her back.

Ursula is pursued by the corrupt attorney Antinucci as well as a suspicious police Captain Leonilda Lima who is unauthorized to pursue the armored car robbery but does so anyway. Ursula's sister, Luz, also hires a private investigator because she suspects Ursula of...something, although she's not quite sure what. Ursula must stay ahead of them while also tracking down Diego, the accomplice she tasked with hiding the cash. 

Mercedes Rosende does a wonderful job of weaving this complicated cat-and-mouse plot together from multiple perspectives, including an occasional narrator who serves almost as a herald who both describes the events and comments on them. The plot moves slowly along through the first part of the novel as you spend time with these amusing and disturbing characters. Ursula plans and schemes while her counterparts try to box her in. The climax explodes with action that also harkens back to famous events in Uruguay's history. 

One of the best things about reading fiction in translation and fiction set in foreign locales is learning about other places in the world. That is certainly the case here. Rosende has earned comparisons to everyone from Elmore Leonard to Quentin Tarantino and it's easy to see why. The Hand That Feeds You is a direct sequel to Crocodile Tears but it is easy to pick up as a standalone as Rosende does a good job of bringing the reader up to speed on all the characters and events that have happened so far. 

This book is filled with dark humor and characters you won't soon forget.

I was provided a copy of this book by the publisher.