Short Synopsis
From an internationally bestselling literary luminary, an atmospheric, brilliant novel about a wonderfully roguish detective navigating the rough terrain of '70s-era Chile, Cuba, and East Berlin.

Full Synopsis
Roberto Ampuero's novels starring the wonderfully roguish Cayetano Brulé are an international sensation. In The Neruda Case, listeners are introduced to Cayetano as he takes on his first case as a private eye. Set against the fraught political world of pre-Pinochet Chile, Castro's Cuba, and perilous behind-the-Wall East Berlin, this mystery spans countries, cultures, and political ideas, and features one of literature's most beloved figures—Pablo Neruda.

Cayetano meets the poet at a party in Chile in the 1970s. The dying Neruda recruits Cayetano to help him solve the last great mystery of his life. As Cayetano fumbles around his first case, finding it hard to embrace the new inspector identity foisted upon him, he begins to learn more about Neruda's hidden agenda. Neruda sends him on a whirlwind expedition around the world, ending back in Chile, where Pinochet's coup plays out against the final revelations of their journey.

Evocative, romantic, and full of intrigue, Ampuero's novel is both a glimpse into the life of Pablo Neruda as death approaches and a political thriller that unfolds during the fiercely convulsive end of an era.

"[Listen to] this one as much for the story as for the wonderful way Ampuero has with words." ---Publishers Weekly Starred Review

"Chilean novelist Ampuero's first mystery to be published in English provides both a revealing look into the life of a famous poet and a potent primer on world politics in the 1970s." ---Booklist

"The Neruda Case is a sweeping mystery set against the backdrop of the Chilean coup. This unforgettable book is brilliantly imagined, and features the poet Pablo Neruda in a remarkably intimate role. Roberto Ampuero's writing is exhilarating." ---Isabel Allende, author of Daughter of Fortune

"Robertson Dean's superb narration brings the first English translation of the noted Chilean author's body of work to listeners in the United States.…. Dean easily navigates his narration through a variety of characters and accents…and captures the pain in Cayetano's heart." ---AudioFile

Publishers Weekly Review