This book was a page turner and would make an excellent series for the screen. The mystery was good but there was some bad Catholic history. Father Luis will be one of my favorite characters and I look forward to reading more about him.
Many thanks to Thomas & Mercer and to NetGalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.

A fierce priest fighting the human trafficking in the streets and fields.

I (quite strangely) liked that novel, even if I have more than one of critical comments. But there is something as the real care about the people, something really human present here. And I like that.

Well, to be honest, this is a common mystery book with an unexpected hero, the former street child, now reformed man - young priest. Without this kind of hero, the novel would lack (even more), as there is nothing new here - corrupt rich people and local politicos, oppression, machinations etc. But Father Luis is very much able to deliver the caring touch. He is the one hero to whom you believe his real, true interest in the people, even when the said people are sinners (and we all are sinners). And don´t we all wait for somebody who would truly care, who would see us as we are and would still care?

But. Father Luis is no Father Brown (and Chesterton was far superior writer, too). Also the theology presented here is sometimes very edgy, with all the modern angles (i.e. celibacy and relations to the women) questioned and sometimes attacked. And Father Luis himself can behave like a Wild West gunslinger hero without any weight on his conscience and/or any questions asked by the law and police! Sorry, not taking it.
But I believe him when he speaks about his faith. And some of the faith-based comments are not just spot-on, they are something I have heard from several priests, too. So I think that the author himself is either a lapsed/former Catholic, or at he has a Catholic presence in his life. As I am Catholic myself, this aspect is interesting for me.

So I leave this book with mixed feelings, some of which are of banging-my-head-on-the-desk nature and some are of being refreshed in my faith. A curious mix - so let me start with the second volume in this series :)