‘The Colours Of Death’ (2021) – Inspector Reis #1 by Patricia Marques

The Murder
In the Gare do Oriente, a body sits, slumped, in a stationary train. A high-profile man appears to have died by throwing himself repeatedly against the glass. But according to witnesses, he may not have done this of his own accord.

The City
Lisbon 2021. A small percentage of the population are diagnosed as Gifted. Along with the power comes stigma and suspicion.

The Detective
In a prejudiced city, Gifted Inspector Isabel Reis is hiding her own secrets while putting her life on the line to stop an ingenious killer.

A violent and mysterious crime. Suspected Gifted involvement. A city baying for blood. And a killer who has only just begun . . .

The Colours Of Death‘ is the first of three books set in an alternative version of contemporary Lisbon where it has been known since the beginning of the twentieth century that a percentage of the population, referred to as ‘The Gifted’ in polite society, is born with telekinetic or telepathic abilities. Inspector Isabel Reis is Gifted and a homicide detective in Lisbon. She’s also very aware that the Gifted are treated as more of a threat than a treasure: assessed as children monitored throughout their lives and increasingly distrusted by ‘regular’ people. So, when a murder occurs that seems to involve the use of telekinetic powers, Reis understands the risk of backlash. A risk that increases when she finds out who was killed.

The pace of the book is unhurried, with Reis’ personality and history being revealed slowly as she investigates the secrets and lies that are wrapped around a murder apparently committed by an unknown and very powerful Gifted. If you’re looking for an action-packed techno-thriller, this book will disappoint you. If you want to get inside the head of a complex character in a world that is recognisable, believable but different in crucial respects, then this is a book to relax into,

I loved how well thought through this book was. The murder mystery worked as an intriguing puzzle that escalated into a tense thriller but the plot also delved deeply into how the Gifted were treated. In the minds of the general public, the distinguishing feature of the Gifted is that they are abnormal, unnatural and potentially dangerous. In the minds of governments around the world, they are a threat to be contained, controlled and possibly weaponised. Neither mindset sees the Gifted as properly human.

I liked how Patricia Marques used Isabel Reis’s fears of losing control of her power and of being ‘disappeared‘ in the night if the powers that be perceive her as an unacceptable threat and her childhood memories of being marked as different, of being tested and tagged, of losing her mother’s love and of being made to feel that her own abilities needed to be guarded against, to make the world of the Gifted feel real.

For me the middle section of the book ran a little too slowly. The final twenty per cent of so more than made up for that. It was tense, action-packed, surprising and satisfying. ,

I’ve already brought the next book in the series, ‘House Of Silence‘ to the top of my TBR pile.