The Ambivalent Corpse

A Roger and Suzanne Mystery Novel

By: Jerold Last

Narrated by: Virtual Voice

Parts of a dismembered corpse are found on a rocky stretch of beach in Montevideo, Uruguay, apportioned equally between the Memorial to a German cruiser sunk in World War II and the Memorial to Jews killed in the Holocaust. Because of the murder victim's strategic location shared between two antithetical monuments, the Uruguayan press names her “The Ambivalent Corpse”. Private detective Roger Bowman and his girlfriend, scientist Suzanne Foster, find themselves traveling through Uruguay, Southwest Brazil, and parts of Paraguay and Argentina to help solve the case. This fast paced mystery has plenty of action, atmosphere, and sense of place. While the novel is basically a hard-bitten mystery story, it bends the genre slightly so that it should also appeal to readers interested in travel, romance, and South American food and wine.

Narration compromised the story

The story is fairly engaging, especially the travel narratives. Virtual Voice, however, is barely tolerable to begin with. In this case, the choice of a female voice for a male narrator is distracting and confusing.