An Easy Thing

Héctor Belascoarán Shayne #2

by Paco Ignacio Taibo II, William I. Neuman

Set amidst the political turbulence and social unrest of contemporary Mexico City, An Easy Thing introduces English-speaking readers to Taibo's human and world-weary protagonist, independent detective Hector Belascoaran Shayne. In this debut outing, our hero, who, incidentally, possesses an insatiable appetite for Coca Cola and cigarettes, tackles three cases simultaneously: a killing in a corrupt factory; the deadly threats against a former porn starlet's teenage daughter; and, strangely, the search for Emiliano Zapata, folk hero and leader of the Mexican Revolution, rumored to be alive and hiding out in a cave outside Mexico City.
Combining black comedy, social history and a touch of surrealism, Paco Taibo's wonderfully idiosyncratic detective novels are admired the world over and are particularly popular in Europe and in the Spanish-speaking world.

Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Crime, Noir, Mystery Thriller, Detective, Novels

257 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1977

About the author

Paco Ignacio Taibo II, birth name Francisco Ignacio Taibo Mahojo, is a popular Mexican writer and novelist. He is the son of the late journalist Paco Ignacio Taibo I.

Reviews

[Jeffrey Keeten · Rating 4 out of 5]

”It was far better, after all, than to be forever chasing the dollar, a new car, the needle-dick life, middle-class security, tickets to the symphony, neckties, cardboard relationships, cardboard sex in a cardboard bed, the wife, the kids, upward mobility, a salary, a career; the rat race he had fled from suddenly one day six months ago to go hunt down a strangler. A killer who in the end he found mirrored inside himself.”

But now he is plagued by a historical mystery.

Is Emiliano Zapata still alive?”


Emiliano Zapata

Hector Belascoaran Shayne was a promising engineer ready to claim his rung on the upper mobility ladder. The concept of exchanging his time, creativity, and perspiration for social position and monetary gain was sold to him as if this rickety structure ascending into the clouds was a golden stairway to heaven.

He hopped off.

The air down at the street level might be tinged a different color, and it might be tainted with the mingled cocktail stench of exhaust, excrement, and sweat, but it doesn’t smell of disinfectant, greed, and selfishness. He finds a comfort in being among the type of people he grew up with. He doesn’t require a lot of money to exist and doesn’t feel like anyone should need a lot of money to live.

He does something really crazy. He becomes a private detective.

”If you were to ask me why he’s a private detective, I wouldn’t be able to tell you. Obviously there are times when he would rather not be, just like I have moments in which I would rather be anything but a writer.” —Raymond Chandler

He isn’t really a very good detective. ”He held the lighter a moment longer and fired up a cigarette. Every city gets the detective it deserves, he thought.” He is a well meaning detective and doesn’t go into the business to sort out the sordid affairs of adulterous couples or find dirt on a business rival or in anyway help the powerful to impose their will on the helpless. As far as pay, well, one could almost pay him in soda pop.

When his mother dies, he meets with his brother and sister to discuss the estate. They are inheriting enough money to make them uncomfortable. I couldn’t help thinking about all the nasty estate issues that I’ve seen my family or friends of the family go through, and those issues were never about someone feeling like they were inheriting too much money but were more along the lines of someone feeling like they deserved more. Fighting over money that you didn’t even earn is unsavory and, frankly, demeaning to your ancestors. I, personally, would rather let karma sort it out. I would hope our lives are worth more than the number of zeros we leave behind in our bank accounts.

I’m becoming very fond of the Belascoaran family.

Hector, who is usually overwhelmed with handling one case at a time, suddenly finds himself handling three cases at once. One involves a dead homosexual engineer. The company hires him to find out the truth, but as he circles closer to the truth, it may not be what the company wants him to discover. The second one involves the attempted suicide of a teenage girl, the daughter of a movie star who oozes pheromones all over poor Hector.

”The phrase “fits like a glove” came to Héctor’s mind. As she moved, Héctor thought he could hear the melody of a far off rumba, like a movie soundtrack. Héctor imagined himself with a butter knife, slowly spreading the black material over the woman’s skin. And she, either guessing his thoughts, intuiting them, or perhaps out of a sense of professional gallantry, paused silently for the detective to look her over.”

He does love a woman who doesn’t mind a man looking her over.

The third case is the most strange. A man believes that Emiliano Zapata was not riddled with bullets at the Hacienda de San Juan. He believes the man killed was a double and that Zapata survived. If this is true and he is still alive, he would have to be 97 years old. Did the wily, handsome, gallant Zapata really escape his assassins?


Is this really the corpse of Zapata?

If he does find Zapata, will he still be Zapata? How could the living man ever live up to the dead legend?

He shares his office with three other men which makes the lettering on their door rather busy. It doesn’t make sense that these services would be housed together, but it is simply a matter of economics.

HÉCTOR BELASCOARÁN SHAYNE: DETECTIVE GILBERTO GÓMEZ LETRAS: PLUMBER “GALLO” VILLAREAL: SEWER AND DRAINAGE SPECIALIST CARLOS VARGAS: UPHOLSTERER

The plot is a convoluted mess, but I couldn’t have cared less. I was too caught up in Belascoaran’s mind games with himself. He feels shame that he ever went away to school because he feels like he went for the wrong reasons. It was so refreshing to spend time with someone marching resolutely downhill, passing by all the rest of us trying to march up the hill that becomes steeper as we ascend. Belascoaran isn’t the standard alcoholic, drug addict, depressed detective, but a man doing the job for a set of ideals he is still trying to sort out. As a word of warning, he might be developing an addiction to soda.

I do believe this is my first Mexico based mystery. This is the second book in the series and the first that was translated into English. The first book is more political, which makes it more intriguing to me, but Paco Ignacio Taibo II’s English publishers must have felt it wouldn’t be relevant to an American audience. *sigh* Needless to say, I’m intrigued with this attempt by Belascoaran to find more meaning in life at the bottom than at the top.

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[Glenn Russell]

Actor Luis Gerardo Méndez in his role as private detective Héctor Belascoarán Shayne

According to Paco Ignacio Taibo II, heroes, even small heroes like Héctor Belascoarán Shayne, help us reclaim our rights: our right to romanticism, to adventure, to the sense that our lives are not shallow but infinitely deep, connected to history and to "all those who have no rights, those who suffer abuse their whole lives, people on the margins, the disinherited, the lepers, the poor, the least of the least."

The above is an excerpt from James Sallis' Afterword to An Easy Thing, which pays great tribute to the life and writing of Paco Ignacio Taibo II, an author famous in his home country of Mexico and deserving of a much wider readership in the U.S. and beyond.

Having discovered the novels of Paco Ignacio Taibo II, I'm over the Mexican moon. I would gladly write an extended essay on An Easy Thing, the first of four books featuring the colorful Héctor Belascoarán Shayne that have been translated into English. But, alas, I'm writing a book review and will focus on the author's heroic gumshoe as a portal into this classic of contemporary fiction, first published in 1990.

MAJOR BREAK
One day, while walking out of a movie theater, Belascoarán, age thirty, broke with his past: he divorced his wife (no children), quit his job as an industrial engineer, and traded it all in to become a private detective sharing a grimy office on Artículo 123 with a plumber, an engineer, and an upholsterer - gents he sometimes ropes into helping him crack a case. I suspect many Mexican men, trapped in conventional jobs, would love to make a similar break. Oh well, at least they can identify with Belascoarán.

THREE AT ONCE
The incomparable Paco doesn't hold back. An Easy Thing is an exuberant thriller - one prime reason being that Paco has Belascoarán take on three cases at once. The first involves investigating rumors that legendary revolutionary leader Emiliano Zapata is still alive. The second case comes from a luscious soap opera star who hires Belascoarán to prevent her sixteen-year-old daughter, Elena, from committing suicide. The third revolves around the murder of an engineer, an executive at the Delex factory, where management is in the midst of a hostile labor dispute.

Belascoarán reflects: “What was he getting himself into? What did he think he was doing taking on three jobs at once? The sweet flame of a temporary insanity tickled his brain, and he smiled, thinking of the old maxim of his pirate father: “The more complicated the better; the more impossible, the more beautiful.”

AH, FAMILY
It's 1977, and Belascoarán’s mother has just died. Belascoarán, along with his sister, Elisa, and his brother, Carlos, must deal with her will. This leads the three siblings to uncover secrets through their long-dead father's last letter (and accompanying notebook) addressed to them, outlining the adventurous, violent life he led before settling down with their mother in Mexico. The letter begins, “My story is a story of struggle, a product of the times I lived in. Were it up to me, I would have preferred not to have stained my hands with the blood of other men.” Goodness. Belascoarán discovers his dear old dad's revolutionary life in Europe and along the African coast, especially during the Spanish Civil War, rivals that of Emiliano Zapata. Being his father's son, it's clear now why he rebelled against a boring, middle-class workaday world and became a detective.

TO BE MEXICAN
Belascoarán drives along the Mexico City streets, cold and tired, yet he feels good. “It was the city, the city he loved so intensely, so selflessly, welcoming him with that dirty gray dawn. And more than the city, even more, it was the people.” The streets and landmarks are always cited by name. As readers, we're given a powerful sense of what it means to be Mexican and live and work in Mexico City. And there's something Belascoarán wants his fellow countrymen never to forget: “If there's one thing this country won't forgive you for, it's that you take your life too seriously, that you can't see the joke.”

SOCIAL COMMENTARY
Many are the times Belascoarán (and indirectly Paco Ignacio Taibo II) takes aim at the Mexican social and economic system. Addressing one blighted section of the city, he muses, "Out there, modern industry took a step backward into the nineteenth century, to the days before the invention of hard hats, to the era of rusty steel, lost time sheets, cheap raw materials, and thieving bosses who stole with impunity from the workers' saving accounts. There in Santa Clara the intrinsic filth of Mexican capital, in other places hidden behind white-washed walls and hygienic facades, was laid open for all to see."

SODA POP AND CIGARETTES
Unlike many detectives in crime novels, Belascoarán doesn't drink booze or beer; he drinks lots of soda pop. So charming. One more reason Paco's hero is both an endearing and enduring character. Sure, he has his faults and makes a string of very human mistakes, but his eagerness to pursue the truth and smoke out nasty evildoers, putting himself in great danger along the way, makes for a detective with great appeal. For example, at one juncture Belascoarán saves Elena by taking on and beating up three young thugs in a street fight. She calls him her guardian angel. From first page to last, we're right there rooting for the author's chain-smoking sleuthhound.

I can't recommend An Easy Thing strongly enough, especially to my fellow Gringos. Have a taste of outstanding Mexican literature. I'll conclude with a sparkling statement from Paco Ignacio Taibo II: "Reading is the most subversive activity in life. Open any true book and you begin to see the world through somebody else's eyes. Nothing is more redeeming than that, or more dangerous."


Mexico City, among the great cities of the world


Spanish-Mexican author and political activist Paco Ignacio Taibo II, born 1949

[Makis Dionis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Σ αυτήν την χώρα δεν συμβαίνει τίποτα.
Ακόμα κι όταν συμβαίνει, δεν τρέχει μια

Κάρφωσε τα μάτια του στο ταβάνι και φύσηξε τον καπνό του. Δεν είχε τίποτα να της προσφέρει εκτός από αλληλεγγύη.
Υποστήριξη μεταξύ των κατεστραμμένων αυτής της γης, αυτής της χώρας που τους γεννά και τους σκοτώνει, που τους παίρνει και τους πετά στην περιπέτεια κι έπειτα αφήνει το κουφάρι τους βορά στα όρνεα

Από το όραμα του Ζαπάτα μέχρι το Μεξικό των 70s , ο Taibo , ψηλαφεί, τους κοινωνικούς αρμούς κ το παρασκήνιο που τους ορίζει.

Πάντα από την σωστή πλευρά της ιστορίας κ της ανθρώπινης αξίας κ αξιοπρέπειας

[Kostas Kanellopoulos · Rating 4 out of 5]

An extra star for the TV series

[Linda · Rating 3 out of 5]

The second in the Héctor Belascoarán Shayne series, from 70´s Mexico. This book finds our detective hired to solve three cases simultaneously: 1)to protect the teenaged daughter of a famous actress, 2)to find Emiliano Zapata, hero of the Mexican Revolution who wasn't really killed by traitors back in Chinameca, and 3) to figure out who killed the manager at a large manufacturing plant.
Our detective is still the same as he was in the first novel: pensive, sentimental, trying to figure out where life will take him, intrigued by his cases. However, this frequent voicing of cynicism, essentially a "loser's complex", continues to astound me here. Because Hector hasn't lost out on any major civil wars, isn't exiled, isn't marginalized by society. If he's an exile from society, it was by his own choice, and it's never explained. In fact, his mother dies at the beginning of this novel. And we find out that, not only is he upper-middle class, but he is now one of three children inheriting a very, very large sum of money. Neither of his siblings wants the money, nor does he. They flee it like the plague. This negative attitude toward money and cynicism with respect to Mexican society (he has a love-hate relationship with Mexico City)--the association of money with a lack of ethics, morals, or respectability--is something that's usually witnessed in the poor. This distrust of the wealthy is inexplicable in the character (the author, well, could be a different story).

In any case, I've been reading these to see more of "the girl with the ponytail" from the first novel, his love, because she's not represented in the first novel as women in crime and noir typically are. Unfortunately, here, she's an absent presence. It's almost as if this novel were written before the first one, and this were adapted slightly to account for her in the storyline. She's gone off to Europe, guiltiy running from her own bourgeois status (albeit while staying in the best hotels and attending parties with diplomats). She sends Hector letters, basically confessing that she's slept with other men, updating him on her progress of self-discovery, and asking him to wait for her--because she loves him. And the female assistant he had acquired in the middle of the first novel has disappeared inexplicably, to be replaced by two young men who are subletting office space (who are useful, see below).

This novel moves more slowly than the first, it seems. Maybe it's because I've had a lot of work, or maybe it's just because the author communicates exactly how weary B.Shayne is. He goes for a period of what seems like a week or two on very little sleep, and you can almost feel the fuzz in your mouth, the stale tobacco smell from too many cigarettes smoked to keep you alert as you tail people, the ache in your feet. I also like the portrayal of that love-hate relationship with the capital. The way he speaks and the one-liners remain typical of the genre. He's perhaps less sentimental here.

Perhaps it's not as good, because the reader doesn't have all of the information that the detective has. You realize that the young engineer who is subletting the office space to work on sewer projects for the city is key to the resolution of one of the three cases....but it's never laid out. There's a reference, and you experience a moment of "aha!". But crime novels that don't allow us to put the pieces of the puzzle together aren't as much fun, are they? And as noir goes, there isn't as much excitement in this one--not in my view, anyway. So much for the female assistant and a new view of women in noir......she's been replaced by someone who's much more handy to the case at hand, due to experience/knowledge/access to certain information. She was just a plot device, after all. Sigh.......let's hope for something better with regard to "the girl with the ponytail".

At the end, the reader is awaiting her return, perhaps more than Hector himself. But I can't tell you the ending without spoiling it. And I hate spoilers.......so you'll have to read for yourself.

Update: If anyone is old enough to remember the film ¨Vanishing Point¨from the ´70´s, it turns out that the author also penned that screenplay. The radio DJ is used to the same effect here: as assistance. And it in turn inspired (just my theory) a similar role in L. Sepúlveda´s ¨Hot Line¨ in the naughts.

[Solistas · Rating 4 out of 5]

Έχω τρελή αδυναμία στον Taibo κ σε γενικές γραμμές όταν μεγαλώσω θέλω να γίνω ο Έκτορ Σάυν. Ότι αυτός ο μυθιστορηματικός ήρωας είναι νεότερός μου το αντιμετωπίζω ως λεπτομέρεια.

Σε αυτή την παλιά περιπέτειά του (κυκλοφόρησε το '77) αναλαμβάνει τρεις υποθέσεις ταυτόχρονα, γεγονός που δίνει στο βιβλίο ξέφρενο ρυθμό κάτι που ήθελα έτσι κ αλλιώς αφού αυτή την περίοδο έχω ελάχιστο ελεύθερο χρόνο για διάβασμα οπότε όταν ξεκλέβω λίγα λεπτά θέλω να περνάω καλά κ να γυρίζω σελίδες με άνεση. Δυστυχώς δεν έχει μεταφραστεί ακόμα το συγκεκριμένο βιβλίο κ φαίνεται πως η Αγρα σταμάτησε να ασχολείται μαζί του. Κρίμα θα πω αλλά ευτυχώς έχω 4-5 βιβλία του αδιάβαστα ακόμα, εξακολουθώ να ψάχνω σα να πρόκειται για το ιερό δισκοπότηρο το Ποδηλατο του Λεονάρντο κ όταν πια δεν θα εχει μεινει τίποτα, υπάρχει κ η βιογραφία του Τσε που αριθμεί πάνω από 1000 σελίδες οπότε θα επιβιώσω.

Όσοι λοιπόν έχουν αδυναμία στον Μάριο Κόντε του Παδούρα (Μάσκες, Παρελθόν Χαμένο στην Ομίχλη κτλ.) εδώ θα βρουν το καλούπι που ακολούθησε ο εξίσου αγαπημένος Κουβανός. Όσοι ενοχλούνται απ'την macho φάση του Τσάντλερ εδώ θα νιώσουν πολύ καλύτερα. Όσοι θέλουν υπέροχα γραμμένα κοινωνικο-πολιτικά σχόλια δεν θα βρουν πουθενά αλλού καλύτερα (εντάξει, που λέει ο λόγος). Γενικά μιλώντας, πως γίνεται να μην σου αρέσει ο Taibo;;;

[Ivonne Rovira · Rating 4 out of 5]

In a novel first published in 1977, half-Irish, half-Basque investigator Héctor Belascoarán Shayne gets presented with an intriguing premise: that Mexican Revolutionary icon Emiliano Zapata did not die at the Hacienda de San Juan in Chinamarca in 1919, but had instead cheated death when an emissary had gone instead. According to the tale Belascoarán is spun, Zapata, now in his 90s, remains very much alive, hiding out in a cave on the outskirts of Mexico City. Who could resist searching for Zapata? Surely not Belascoarán!

Belascoarán also investigates two more mysteries in An Easy Thing, the first novel in the five-book Belascoarán series: some odd bullying against the teenage daughter of a former porn star and the stabbing murder of an engineer in a factory in Santa Clara in the state of Mexico (the province with the same name as the country). The factory owner and his board openly admit that they'll be blaming the murder on the union, which will be going on strike any day; in a nod at the total corruption of the system, both the executives and Belascoarán have no doubt that the police will totally comply. However, the executives would like to know the real murderer, all the same.

Taibo is better known for his 2004 novel 68 about the 1968 student movement and the Tlatelolco massacre in which federal troops murdered hundreds of student protestors and arrested a thousand more 10 days before the 1968 Olympic Games were to begin in Mexico City. Taibo embues An Easy Thing with the same criticisms of the corrupt relationship between Mexico's politicians and oligarchs

[Andy · Rating 4 out of 5]

In which the half-radical/half-romantic Taibo wrestles with the idea that there could never be a "Mexican detective" and then perversely creates one: the unforgettable Hector Belascoarán Shayne, a bleeding-heart, often-bleeding, pepsi-swigging, sleep-avoiding, sad-sack with an unpronounceable half-Basque, half-Irish name. The "Easy Thing" in the title is a three-headed mystery that involves saving a sad Catholic school girl with a broken arm, solving the political murder of a gay engineer, and proving that Zapata is still alive. Y'know, typical pulp stuff. This is essential reading for those interested in experiencing Mexico City (even Mexico City of the late '70s)as an electrically alive place -- but also for anyone who believes in the idea of the detective as a universal conduit between the parts of life we love and the parts we'd rather ignore. Absolutely outstanding.

[Carolien · Rating 4 out of 5]

A gritty detective novel in the classic style of Chandler. Mexico City makes for an interesting setting and it is beautifully written, the translation retains the original Mexican feel. Would recommend it for fans of Chandler and Robert B. Parker.

[Ana Flores · Rating 4 out of 5]

«¿No era eso la profesión de detective? La renuncia a la vida propia, el miedo a vivirla, a comprometerse con el propio pellejo. La excusa de la aventura para vivir de prestado. La inercia que había dejado la muerte de la madre. El vacío de no entender el país y sin embargo tratar de vivirlo intensamente. Todas esas cosas mezcladas eran las que lo empujaban al extraño caos en que se encontraba sumergido. No podía ser eterno. Algún día se encontraría ante una puerta que definitivamente ostentara su nombre.»

Ha transcurrido alrededor de un año desde el encuentro con el Cerevro, y en el ínterin, Héctor Belascoarán Shayne ha resuelto algunos otros casos y adquirido experiencia en eso de ser detective en ciudad tercermundista, la misma ciudad hundida en el caos y corrupción perpetua, a la que odia con todo su amor, y de la que no puede escapar pues de su podredumbre alimenta su propia alma extraviada.

En Cosa fácil, la segunda entrega del detective más famoso de México, sin abandonar el tono de ligera autoburla de Días de combate, tenemos sin embargo una historia más sólida, que en lugar de salidas inesperadas y misterios resueltos por casualidades como último recurso para destrabar el punto muerto (como en la primera parte) va encadenando sucesos con mucha más coherencia y, digamos, credibilidad, enredando tres tramas distintas a resolver, más una adicional referente al pasado familiar de Héctor, que le dan al libro un ritmo acelerado, sin llegar a ser atropellado o enmarañado de más.

El mejor manejo de los tiempos y múltiples personajes es notorio, y pese a la multitud de historias que se entrecruzan, el autor sabe cómo administrarlas, de modo que no resulten engorrosas ni se le vayan de las manos. De hecho, lo de las tres tramas (o cuatro) que se desarrollan paralelas, no lo es tanto; PIT II sabe dejar en larga pausa la referente a Zapata a lo largo de todo el libro, ralentiza la de la chica del brazo enyesado con eso de su renuencia a revelar su “secreto”, enfocándose en la del gerente asesinado, que sólo de cuando en cuando es interrumpida por las otras, lo que le permite al autor mantener asidas todas las historias sin resolver hasta el final. Y eso, claro, forma parte de su talento.

Como ya nos fuimos dando cuenta desde que por primera vez lo conocimos, el detective independiente Belascoarán Shayne es en realidad bastante más blando, sensible e incluso socialmente necesitado de lo que desea aparentar, o hacerse creer a sí mismo, si bien, a lo largo de estas páginas, y con las irreparables consecuencias del final, acabaremos viendo a un Héctor cada vez más duro, curtido, para quien su peculiar oficio perderá todo tono lúdico previo. La guerra es la guerra.

El universo creado por PIT II es ya familiar, entrañable, una atmósfera que raya en lo irreal y paranoico debido a la falta de sueño, los muchos cigarros, las caminatas interminables y esa necesidad de Belascoarán de no estar jamás por completo lúcido, ese atontarse no sólo por los acontecimientos que se le vienen encima sino a propósito, provocando él mismo que los acontecimientos se le vengan encima y lo tengan eternamente medio ido, pues, tal vez, teme que de no ser así tendría que ponerse a pensar en su propia vida jodida, y hasta quizá obligarse a sí mismo a hacer algo al respecto, lo que no desea para nada.

Precisamente porque en Cosa fácil ya hay un terreno por el cual transitar se han acabado los experimentos, la realidad de ese curioso detective privado mexicano, con sus no menos peculiares ayudantes, ya no es algo que haya que estar construyendo y camina mucho más al ras del suelo, y por lo mismo, el final es bastante menos amable que en la aventura previa, y los distintos cabos se cierran sin artificiosidad o excesiva puntualidad.

De lo mejor en la narrativa de Paco Ignacio Taibo II, que con ésta definitivamente se fue convirtiendo en maestro de la novela negra.

[Stan · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Cada ciudad tenía el detective que merecía"; "los finales felices no se hicieron para este país"; "en este país no pasa nada, y aunque pase, tampoco". In the first of the series about private detective Belascoarán Shayne, there was a lot of unevenness as Taibo got his "sea legs". In this novel, however, he has pretty much mastered, conquered, and overwhelmed the genre of the detective novel. While inspired by the Hollywood and novelistic P.I.'s of the 30's, 40's, 50's, he has created a genre wholly Mexican. Really, in anything written about Mexico City, Mexico City itself is the protagonist, because it is one of those really standout cities with no comparison. And Taibo interprets it perfectly, reflecting the "D.F." of the mid-70's (when I lived there, so I could appreciate it), with incredible characterizations, convoluted yet plausibly complicated multiple plots, so much "típico D.F.", clever humor, and the best that Mexican Spanish has to offer (my favorite version of Spanish, tho with a shout out to Venezuelan and Argentinian, also very expressive). In short... this is a great read. A classic in its genre.

[Alejandro Leos Chavarría · Rating 4 out of 5]

Segunda parte de la serie del detective Belascoarán Shayne, me pareció mas redonda que la anterior y más entretenida. Algo hay de eso.

[Ted · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was my first try at a mystery novel by Paco Ignacio Taibo II and I mostly liked it. Especially enjoyed the setting, Mexico City, with its familiar avenues, parks, buildings and monuments. Also liked the Latin ambience and vibe of the novel. The private detective, Hector Belascoarán Shayne, had some depth and was quite a unique character. I can see how a series could be created around him. As for the three cases that were handled in the novel, I didn't find the kidnapping case or the murders case all that interesting but I did find the Zapata investigation quite intriguing. It took up relatively few pages of the book but the details of the story, though a bit sketchy, were interesting as hell and felt almost believable. I'm hoping that someday Taibo (or someone else) will turn the Zapata survival story into a first rate fictional novel. Another gem found in the book (chapter eight) is the notebook of Belascoarán Shayne's father with his life story and a letter to his three offspring. The chapter is only 10 pages long but it describes a life so rich and varied that it too would make a fascinating novel.

Overall, for me this one was a mixed bag. I found some parts interesting and quite entertaining while others were a bit flat, predictable and at times repetitious. I'd give it a solid 3 maybe a 3+.

[Justin · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 Stars.

[Francisco Barrios · Rating 5 out of 5]

Leí esta novela por primera vez hace pinchemil años. Yo era una chamaquito imberbe de preparatoria que entre clásico y clásico —léase entre la Ilíada y la Odisea o entre la Comedia y el Decamerón—, me refrescaba con la prosa tragicómica, espontánea y emocionante de las novelas de Héctor Belascoarán Shayne.

Aquella primera lectura me reconcilió con la Ciudad «gris, monstruosa» que llamamos casa, con los albañiles que inundaban el camión con sudor rancio, con las estudiantes del Colegio Asunción que eran de una naturalidad adolescente afectada y, sobre todo, con el Centro Histórico que empezaba a descubrir.

Hoy, 25 años después de aquella lectura, habiéndome encontrado al Gordo (PIT 2) en más de una marcha y hablado con él de mis impresiones sobre algunos momentos destacados de toda la serie Belascoarán (y otros no tanto), me he percatado que ya estoy más cerca de Héctor y de su desencanto profesional por la forma en que la historia —y sus inercias e injusticias— se sufren todos los días en este país, sin que hayamos aprendido un carajo, así como de la imagen negra que los mexicanos tenemos de nosotros mismos.

Definitivamente es una obra que tiene un regusto local, difícil (si no imposible) de apreciar por alguien que no haya vivido algunos años en la CdMX. Lo cual se compensará ampliamente por todos los momentos en que sentirás la risita burlona o la carcajada subir a tu boca, o bien el sobresalto de los destinos que convergen en un instante, o bien el miedo y el asco por aquellas cosas que amenazan con no cambiar nunca en México.

Para mí, una obra imprescindible.

[Abraham Salas · Rating 4 out of 5]

Varios años después de leer Retornamos como sombras, me topo con este libro acerca de las andanzas de Héctor Belascoaran Shayne. Y debo decir que reafirmo el gusto por la forma de narrar de Taibo. Cuando era niño me hicieron creer que en mi país no podía haber detectives, ni superhéroes, ni científicos, partiendo de la idea que había de que "lo que está hecho en México está mal hecho". Así que quienes intentaban crear este tipo de personajes (los cineastas, por ejemplo) fracasaban porque se auto boicoteaban al hacer esfuerzos de bajo presupuesto que terminaban con episodios risibles. Aunque ahora la percepción de nosotros mismos ha cambiado un poco, hay que recordar esos tiempos y darle su valor a Taibo que logró crear un detective mexicano, consciente de esa percepción del mexicano lo dotó de una humanidad que lo hacía caer en errores, en amar, sentirse como basura y luego levantarse para seguir adelante y cumplir con su deber, haciendo reflexiones que muchos se hacen y logrando su cometido no con increíbles dotes de deducción, sino que , a falta de estos, con desgastantes esfuerzos físicos y mentales; "ganando el pan con el sudor de su frente" como cualquier otra persona lo haría. Vale la pena leer las aventuras de este detective mexicano de ascendencia vasca e irlandesa. Y pensando que con el tiempo Taibo fue puliendo sus habilidades y siendo esta la segunda novela del personaje, puede que haya mucho más que disfrutar.

[Jason · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is second book of the Héctor Belascoarán Shayne series (counting the not-translated-to-english "Dia de Combante" as first) and I think it is one of the best. It was very interesting to see in retrospective how some parts of Héctor’s life were developed (can't say more without spoilers).

PIT manages to create a very intriguing story in one of the most atmospheric cities (as usual), by mixing three different cases. Great suspense and very interesting view of the events through a social approach, providing an insight on the social and living conditions of the people in the city at that time.

Bottom-line: Another excellent Belascoarán novel from Paco Ignacio Taibo II. Enjoyed it a lot!

[Arturo Del Rosal · Rating 5 out of 5]

Paco Ignacio Taibo II siempre ha sido uno de mis autores predilectos, cuando lei la primer novela de esta serie (dias de combate)lo hice con grandes expectativas sobre todo porque los antecedentes que tenia sobre los trabajos pasados del autor y la premisa de la serie de Belascoaran Shayne, y al principio no me defraudo pero al final de la primer novela senti que el final fue un poco apresurado y esto me decepciono un poco. Pero con Cosa Facil se reinvidico y nos entrego una novela que emociona de principio a fin, desarrolla de forma un poco mas profunda al protagonico y los personajes secundarios son mas constantes. Me gusto mucho y lo recomiendo se te gustan las novelas policiacas.

[Χρήστος Γιαννάκενας · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ο Πάκο Ιγκνάσιο Τάιμπο ΙΙ σε εξαιρετική φόρμα.
Η αγάπη για τον υπέροχο Έκτορ Μπελασκοάραν Σάυν είναι μοναδική, τέτοια για να με πείσει να κάτσω να διαβάσω πρώτη φορά βιβλίο στα αγγλικά (πέρα από τις σχολικές αναγνώσεις).
Παρότι σε σημεία η αγγλική μετάφραση χωλαίνει και λειτουργεί αποτρεπτικά, το βιβλίο δεν παύει να προσφέρει μια εξαιρετική νουάρ ιστορία τριών ανορθόδοξων μυστηρίων και ενός ανορθόδοξου ήρωα να τα λύσει. Όπως γράφει και ο Τάιμπο σε ένα σημείο: "Κάθε πόλη παίρνει τον ντετέκτιβ που της αξίζει".
Κρίμα να μην έχει μεταφραστεί στα ελληνικά, ίσως και η μετάφραση να έδινε πίσω το ένα αστεράκι που λείπει.

[Jesus Flores · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cosa Fácil

A Belascoaran le caen tres casos al mismo tiempo.
Averiguar quien mato a un ingeniero en una fabrica al borde de la huelga. Averiguar por que una muchacha al parecer se quiere suicidar y tiene unas nuevas amistades de apariencia maleante, y encontrar a Emiliano Zapata en la sierra por que un señor piensa que el que murió en la revolución era otra persona.
Aquí si ya lo vemos hacer más trabajo de detective, y los dos primeros casos son interesantes, el de Zapata es más como ahí agregado de fondo, con algunos datos que le mandan. Mucha mejora en este aspecto con respecto al anterior.
4 stars

[Rolando Marono · Rating 3 out of 5]

Esta vez se cruzan tres historias. La prosa sigue siendo filosa y contundente con varias frases memorables. Ahora hay más política y vida mexicana, se siente más auténtico el libro. También hay más temas políticos del mexico de esa época y también vemos un poco del pasado vasco del papá de Hector. Lamentablemente los casos se siguen resolviendo de manera fortuita, con Hector intuyendo cosas y recibiendo pistas o llamadas telefónicas de gente. Quiero ver más trabajo detectivesco de verdad.

[Catherine · Rating 3 out of 5]

There’s something charming about this disjointed tale of a sleep deprived, soft drink addicted, cigarette smoking private eye pursuing 3 cases at once from his office in Mexico. The one clear plot line is that leftists are noble and fundamentally allied, but bound to lose. But overall the novel is more atmospheric than coherent.

[LJ · Rating 5 out of 5]

First Sentence: “One more, Boss,” said Hector Belascoarán Shayne.

What’s a PI to do when he needs money? He accepts three separate cases. In the first, he is hired to search for Emiliano Zapata, the nation’s folk hero and leader of the Mexican Revolution thought to still be alive. The second involves a killing in a corrupt factory. The third is to find who is sending threats to the daughter of a former porn starlet.

What seems to be a stereotypical beginning turns out to be anything but. How can one not be compelled to read on?

Taibo’s use of language is such a pleasure to read. His use of metaphors—“After hesitating for a moment, he got up from the bed and walked wearily, like a man with a pair of incompatible ideas crowding the space inside his head.”—and observations—“if there’s one thing this country won’t forgive you for, it’s that you take your life too seriously, that you can’t see the joke.”—both delight and give one pause to consider. Even his use of chapter headings is perfectly done.

Hector is a character one recognizes but isn’t one of whom one is tired. Taibo has a fascinating way of working in bits of Hector’s background as we good. The more we learn, the more intrigued one becomes to know him better—“…it occurred to him that what he liked to call his professional demeanor was no more than a reflection of the confused state of his own life.” Hector’s office mates, and the nighttime radio DJ, add further to the interesting dimensions of Hector’s character.

There is nothing like a climactic moment one probably should have seen coming but didn’t. The events which follow are extremely gratifying.

“An Easy Thing” is one of those wonderful books that make one wonder why you’ve not read this author sooner, but makes one determined to make up for that lapse.

AN EASY THING -(PI-Hector Belascoarán Shayne-Mexico-Contemp) – Ex
Taibo II, Paco Ignacio – 1st in series
Poisoned Pen Press – March 2002

[Sergio Muñoz · Rating 4 out of 5]

De regla, de ley, de trámite, vaya, cuando un detective investiga dos o más casos a la vez, estos terminan inevitablemente estando relacionados. Ese es un rasgo de Raymond Chandler que a mí nunca me ha terminado de gustar, pues, por ejemplo, en Farewell, My Lovely, se esforzó tanto por coser tres historias cortas que tenía arrumbadas (y no lo negaré: le salió cómo solo a él podía salirle) que quizá nunca se preguntó sí era necesario coserlas en primer lugar. En Cosa Fácil tal no es el caso, así que, como le pasaría a cualquier humano normal en su situación, el detective Belascoarán deambula por la Ciudad de México cabeceando en el camión, tirándose coyotitos en su oficina, dormitando una hora y media en el cine, viviendo de refrescos y lo que su hermana le cocine cuando la visita, muerto de cansancio y cinismo porque lleva tres asuntos igual de demandantes a la vez.
Cosa Fácil presenta una variación refrescante de la fórmula y la única manera en que los secretos peligrosos de una "niña bien", el asesinato de un ejecutivo y la supuesta falsa muerte de Emiliano Zapata pueden coexistir en una misma historia sin que la mandes al carajo. Cada vez que el relato balancea a la orilla de lo verosímil, Paco Taibo te avienta una rebanada de realidad que equilibra la cosa, para que te acuerdes que en México, como dice uno de los personajes "No pasa nada, y aunque pase, tampoco". Bajo esa lógica, sí nada pasa entonces, cuando pase algo, puede ser cualquier cosa, así que ni te extrañe. Bien dijo el demente de Dalí que nunca iba a volver acá, ya que no soportaba un país más surrealista que sus pinturas.

Tengo pendiente una segunda leída, para tomarle bien la medida.

[René Arellano Gutiérrez · Rating 5 out of 5]

Héctor el imposible, el desfasado, el lunático persiguiendo fantasmas en un país de jodidos, fumando a cada dos páginas y haciendo conjeturas con lo que le dictan sus entrañas, esquivando a la muerte mientras busca destruir mitos y joder a empresarios deshonestos... Como no querer a nuestro gran detective mexicano.

Mas apasionante que el primero, por las tramas múltiples y las noches de insomnio escuchando la radio de el cuervo ( será un programa real? -averiguar-) paco Ignacio taíbo ii y su maravilloso estilo, un escritor que entiende un país tan complicado como el nuestro y que hace de el su patio de juegos en donde pone a saltar en la rayuela a un personaje tan inverosímil como belascoaran shayne. Me quedo con ganas de leer más y de reencontrarme con el plomero, el tapicero y el ingeniero experto en aguas profundas que le dan color al despacho del detective privado ... Perdón. Independiente. Y de paso, enterarme si a Héctor le remplazaron su credencial ajada de la academia de detectives por otra nueva a cambio de nueve tapitas de Pepsi y diez pesos.

[Thomas · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is my first read of Tabio's works and really liked it. I am trying to expand my reading horizons, and this includes mysteries. I don't remember where I heard about this, but it wasn't available on Libby so I had to purchase it on Kindle and it was well worth it. Written in the 80's I believe and translate in the 90's (not sure). But fun fact it's published by Poisoned Pen Press, right here in Phoenix!
The story follows Hector Belascoaran Shayne, "independent detective," in Mexico City. He's working 3 cases: protecting a catholic school girl, getting to the bottom of a murdered engineer, and finding Emiliano Zapata. I won't spoil any of the story.
Hector is a mild-mannered, ex-engineer turned Private Dick. He shares his office with a plumber, a sewage engineer and an upholsterer. They keep their soda's (now more expensive because of the damned inflation) in the safe. He also has a fun relationship with a night DJ who he listens to when he's working nights. Since it's the 70's there are no cell phones and the DJ will take messages from callers to announce on the radio. In the backdrop is a worker's strike going on. Oh ya and his Mom just died so he's got to work with his 2 siblings with the inheritance. It's also Mexico City so there is also governmental and police corruption.
The writing by Tabio is excellent. The character's drew me in. I felt the descriptions of the people, situations, environment etc were unique and thoughtful. It's Mexico in the 70's, so there are some slurs and perhaps even some situations that might be frowned upon when looking through a 2024 (almost 2025!) lens. But ya know what? History is like a foreign country, they do things differently there.
Wasn't a long novel, but just the right length. No questions left unanswered. I didn't know how the mysteries would be solved and was satisfied with the conclusions. I will definitely be reading more of this series.

Some interesting quotes and highlights:

Now I know there’s no such thing as escape, and that a journey has no end at all, but only a beginning. What are you running from? What am I running from? When you’re running away from yourself, then there’s nowhere to go, no place is safe, there’s nowhere to hide. You look in the mirror and see the person you’re running away from right there in front of you every day.

If there’s one thing this country won’t forgive you for, it’s that you take your life too seriously, that you can’t see the joke.

It was far better, after all, than to be forever chasing the dollar, a new car, the needle-dick life, middle-class security, tickets to the symphony, neckties, cardboard relationships, cardboard sex in a cardboard bed, the wife, the kids, upward mobility, a salary, a career; the rat race he had fled from suddenly one day six months ago to go hunt down a strangler. A killer who in the end he found mirrored inside himself.

Atahualpa Yupanqui sang it best when he said: God made the night for man to conquer.

It was a country where power was won and held at cock point. The big fuckers carve up the spoils while the rest of us look on.

-T

[Alan Gerstle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Noir with a Mexican City taco stand aroma. Shayne is a former engineer, who, for various reasons left his profession to become one of the few private eyes in Mexico City. Like many Latin Americans, he is of mixed ancestry, hence his last name. BTW, the last name of the father of Che Guevera was Lynch. This series is lots of fun to read. The protagonist is a cola drinking, delicados (cheap Mexican cigarette) smoking kind of guy around 30 -- those are two of Taibo's major (or minor) vices as well. Shayne and Taibo know Mexico City. If you've spent some time there ( was there for four months ), you can get a recall of the place. Despite the three (or is that four) or maybe five subplots, one character is the city itself. Very 197os (it took about 40 years for the powers of the book universe to have it translated--an excellent translation too) Shayne is a Camus-character type in a Marxist world (more Groucho than Karl although both tonalities exist). Just the scenes with Shayne and his office mates are fun--and they're not part of the detective plot. Hovering unseen over the action is an all-night deejay who, through his monologues, tries to connect the alienated human dots that inhabit the city. You've heard of plot driven vs. character driven novels. This story is just plain driven.

Taibo has written about 70 books. About 12 of them are mysteries. His historical writings are also very good--try his bio of Che Guevera, which focuses on Che's two years as a revolutionary. He also has a few documentaries shown on Netflix. Well-read and articulate yet comfortable peppering his language with Mexican curse words. Think of an intellectual, chain smoking, manic, Bernie Sanders, but with a healthy sense of humor.

[George K. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Στις αρχές της... καριέρας μου σαν αναγνώστης (δηλαδή πριν δέκα και πλέον χρόνια) είχα διαβάσει πέντε μυθιστορήματα με πρωταγωνιστή τον Έκτορ Μπελασκοαράν Σάιν, και μετά πάπαλα. Τώρα, τόσα χρόνια μετά, επιτέλους διαβάζω ένα ακόμα μυθιστόρημα με πρωταγωνιστή αυτόν τον τύπο -που είχα ξεχάσει πόσο γαμάτος είναι-, στο οποίο μάλιστα κάνει μια από τις πρώτες εμφανίσεις του σαν λογοτεχνικός ήρωας. Λοιπόν, το βιβλίο ήταν ακριβώς όπως το περίμενα, με βάση αυτά που έχω διαβάσει από τον απίθανο Τάιμπο ΙΙ: Φοβερά καλογραμμένο και κάργα ατμοσφαιρικό, με πολύ ωραίο στιλ και εξαιρετικό χιούμορ, καθώς και με κάμποση τρέλα. Ο Μπελασκοαράν Σάιν στη συγκεκριμένη ιστορία ουσιαστικά αναλαμβάνει ταυτόχρονα τρεις υποθέσεις: Να ανακαλύψει ποιος και γιατί απειλεί τη ζωή της έφηβης κόρης μιας πρώην στάρλετ του κινηματογράφου, να λύσει την υπόθεση δολοφονίας ενός μηχανικού σε ένα εργοστάσιο όπου μαίνεται ένας πόλεμος ανάμεσα στην εργοδοσία και τους απεργούς εργάτες και να αναζητήσει τον λαϊκό ήρωα και ηγέτη της Μεξικάνικης Επανάστασης Εμιλιάνο Ζαπάτα, που φήμες λένε ότι δεν σκοτώθηκε αλλά αντίθετα κρύβεται σε μια σπηλιά έξω από την Πόλη του Μεξικού, όντας στα βαθιά γεράματα. Πολύ, πολύ ωραίο μυθιστόρημα, με μυστήριο, δράση και ένταση, βασικά προσόντα του οποίου είναι η απίθανη γραφή του Τάιμπο, με τον γνωστό κυνισμό και το υπέροχο χιούμορ του, καθώς επίσης ο χαρακτήρας του Μπελασκοαράν Σάιν και οι σχέσεις που έχει με τους υπόλοιπους χαρακτήρες, αλλά και τα διάφορα σκηνικά της Πόλης του Μεξικού. Πολύ μου άρεσε το βιβλίο, μπορώ να πω ότι το ευχαριστήθηκα στον απόλυτο βαθμό και ας μην του βάζω πέντε αστεράκια (θα ήμουν κομμάτι υπερβολικός). Το προτείνω με κλειστά μάτια στους λάτρεις των νουάρ και στους λάτρεις των λατινοαμερικάνικων ιστοριών μυστηρίου.

[Rich · Rating 4 out of 5]

-4.2- I discovered this fantastic author through the netflix series and love the fatalistic humor of one Hector Belascoaran Shayne. Unfortunately not too many authors can capture the beauty of Mexico City and the systemic corruption that has destroyed Mexico and turned it into a narco state. Shayne is a former engineer who shit canned his wife and job at the same time and decided to become a gumshoe aka private eye in a place where exposing corruption can easily lead to a serious case of death. In this outing Shayne finds himself juggling three cases and is trying to find the nexus that links all three cases. Through a series of solid detective work and sheer dumb luck Shayne (easier to spell than Belascoaran) manages to solve each case and bring them to a resolution even if the ugly underbelly of Mexico City does not result in a happy ending (think Thai massage parlor). Several elements stand out as unique in this series, the humor is dark and bloody, Shayne shares his office with a plumber, city sewage expert, and an upholsterer. Now as a fan of Philip Marlowe he never had the indignity of having to share his office with such an unglamorous array of fellows but they each uniquely contribute to the series. If you, fellow reader are looking for an amusing detective series that takes you on a bloody ride through the seedy corrupt world of Mexico City then you have found it.

[Cool_guy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Paco Ignacio Taibo II, the author of this book, runs a non-profit publishing house tied to the Mexican government, a role which is basically the equivalent of a Culture Minister. He’s been given a mandate by the left wing Mexican president, known to most as AMLO, to make culture of all kinds more accessible for working people. He's starting with books. The average paperback costs something like twice the average Mexican daily wage. You really have to want to read that book. Under Taibo, the plan is for the government to churn out very cheap paperbacks of all varieties - Foucault to Robinhood to Grapes of Wrath to Marx. Pretty cool.

He’s written 80 books himself, including a number of absolutely ridiculous - in a fun way - detective novels staring Mexico City detective Hector Belascoaran Shayne. The books are steeped in noir cliches, but Shayne isn’t a cliche himself. No scotch in dimly lit bars. No, he’s a chain smoker and a soda hound. One bottle after the other, full sugar. The author has made his way into the character. Taibo admits to drinking 3 liters of the stuff a day.