The Foreign Girls By Sergio Olguín

I received The Foreign Girls by Sergio Olguín, a brilliant crime/thriller/mystery read. This is the second book I have had the chance to review by Sergio Olguín and I thoroughly enjoyed it. It is also the second in the series following on from the success of The Fragility of Bodies. The Financial Times chose The Fragility of Bodies as one of the best three best thrillers of 2019.

The Foreign Girls By Sergio Olguín book cove

Foreign Girls

Veronica Rosenthal has retreated to a cousin’s remote cottage in the province of Tucuman, to recuperate from the traumatic events in The Fragility of Bodies. 

She befriends two female tourists -an Italian and a Norwegian — invites them to stay and starts a sexual relationship with one of them. 

After a party they attend together, Veronica travels on alone but days later discovers that the women have been murdered. 

Suspicion falls on a local Umbanda priest, but Veronica starts to uncover a web of corruption, abuse and femicide in which government, wealthy landowners and a high-ranking official from the Argentina’s ‘Dirty War’ are all implicated. 

Veronica’s investigation, with its unforeseen political dimensions, has alarmed new enemies who will try to stop her at all cost.

Sergio Olguín

Sergio Olguín

Sergio Olguín was born in Buenos Aires in 1967 and was a journalist before turning to fiction. Olguín has won
a number of awards, among others the Premio Tusquets 2009 for his novel Oscura monótona sangre (“Dark
Monotonous Blood“) . His books have been translated into German, French and Italian.

Translator Miranda France

The translator Miranda France is the author of two acclaimed volumes of travel writing: Don Quixote’
Delusions and Bad Times in Buenos Aires. She has also written the novels Hill Farm and The Day Before the
Fire and translated much Latin American fiction, including Claudia Piñeiro’s novels for Bitter Lemon Press.

My Thoughts

Yet again, Sergio Olguín has written another capturing read featuring Veronica Rosenthal. Following on from events in The Fragility of Bodies, Veronica needs a break and heads off on a ‘care-free’ holiday. Or so she thought. With her inquisitive nature, Veronica is determined to get to the bottom of the murder of the foreign girls. This triggers some unexpected enemies and once again Veronica does everything in her power to uncover the truth.

I really enjoyed The Foreign Girls, Sergio Olguín has a fantastic way of setting the scene so you can really see and feel what’s going on in your head as you read. Alongside this, he brings awareness and shines light on dangerous real life situations, this time the femicide of women in Latin America. The rape and murder of women are used as tools of intimidation between warring families of gangs involved in drug trafficking and corruption. Veronica’s character is brilliant, very little seems to put her off from getting to the bottom of things, even dangerous men who aren’t used to taking no for an answer. I would definitely recommend if you enjoy crime thrillers with a strong main character.

The foreign girls blog tour poster

The Fragility Of Bodies By Sergio Olguín – Blog Tour

I received The Fragility of Bodies By Sergio Olguín to review, a crime/thriller/mystery set in Buenos Aires. Journalist Veronica Rosenthal thinks she knows Buenos Aire until her latest investigation. Revealing a city where life is cheap and the games boys play are to the death.

The Fragility of Bodies

The Fragility Of Bodies

This is the first in a series of novels by Sergio Olguin starring journalist Veronica Rosenthal. Set in Buenos Aires, The Fragility of Bodies is also a TV series currently showing in Argentina. This sensual and terse novel is fiercely critical of a system which tolerates the lives of young boys being put at risk by the powerful and wealthy of Buenos Aires for sheer entertainment.

Veronica, a successful, young journalist is beautiful and unmarried with a healthy appetite for bourbon and men. Driven by a sense of justice, lust and ambition, Veronicas is a fascinatingly complicated heroine. Hearing a local train driver has committed suicide, jumping from the roof of a block of flats, she decides to investigate. Drawn in by the suicide note left, confessing to four mortal ‘accidents’ on the train tracks.

As far as the police are concerned the case is closed, suicide is suicide. Veronica just can’t let it go though. Continuing her investigations takes her on a journey through an unfamiliar world of grinding poverty and junkie infested neighbourhoods. Not to mention train drivers on commuter lines haunted by the memory of bodies hit at speed by their locomotives at night.

With the assistance of a train driver informant, a recovering junkie and two street kids who will risk their lives for a can of Coke, Veronica uncovers a dark secret. Discovering a group of men betting on working-class youngsters, convincing them to play Russian roulette by standing in front of fast-coming trains to see who endures the longest.

With bodies of children crushed under tons of steel, those of adults yielding to relentless desire, the resolution of the investigation reveals the deep bonds which unite desire and death.

Sergio Olguín

Sergio Olguín

Born in Buenos Aires in 1967, Sergio Olguin was a journalist before turning to fiction. Awarded numerous awards including Premio Tusquets 2009 for Oscura monótona sangre (“Dark Monotonous Blood“). His books have been translated into German, French and Italian. The Fragility of Bodies is the first novel to be translated into English by Miranda France.

Translated by Miranda France

Miranda France is the author of two acclaimed volumes of travel writing: Don Quixote’s Delusions and Bad Times in Buenos Aires. She has also written the novels Hill Farm and The Day Before the Fire. She has translated much Latin American fiction, including Claudia Piñeiro’s novels for Bitter Lemon Press.

My Thoughts

The Fragility of Bodies was a fantastic read! I love darker novels like this that delve into the dirty secrets of the wealthy and powerful. Veronica refuses to give up no matter how tough things get or who she is up against. She is determined to get her story and uncover these dark secrets that lead to young boys being killed and train drivers having terrifying nightmares of bodies crunching under steel but can she stop it?

Do you enjoy darker novels?