I have single handedly resurrected Palomino Molero from the dead of books....

Vargas Llosa's detective novel set in 1950s Peru is not simply about the power of love or corruption but of the power of digression. While it fails as a who dunnit mystery, it excels in the art of digression. At the end of each chapter action, conclusion, and knowledge are put off until the next chapter and a change of scene. The new part of the investigation puts off any conclusion, which in turn are delayed at the end of that chapter, and so on. Even the last chapter, when Silva and Lituma are "reassigned" or transferred, the reader is unsure who is going where. Thus, the action is put off or delayed. All that is left is the present knowledge and lots of conspiracy theories about what the big guys did... when in truth it is all about our local knowledge, memory, and the stories we return to. Thus while Lituma and Silva know who killed who, they cannot convince the town because the police don't share a complete story. They cannot digress any further and therefore cannot finish the story. When the digressions are over, there is no story and no resolution. Thus the murder, instead of leading to resolution is cause of more conspiracy theories. The town comes together at the bar restaurant but only to gossip about the murder, make fun of Silva's lack of macho, and not to know about the soliloquy of the involuntary transfer of the local "guardia civil."