According to the police, the victim was stabbed in the heart before the head was separated from the body. As the investigation continues other hotel clients are decapitated, usually with the head found delicately balanced on the knees of the sitting victim. A witty, touching account of life at the edge of Brazilian society, dressed up as a murder mystery.
"A wonderful classic mystery novel written to the best standards of the genre. Between layers of the investigation of an unsolvable crime and a display of suspicious characters, Betto slips in a view of the real Brazil, raw and bleeding."
Le Monde Diplomatique
"A fascinating kaleidoscope of contemporary Brazil."
Le Monde
"A roman noir, but above all a bitter sweet novel, Hotel Brasil plunges the reader into the heart of a Rio that feeds on its people."
