Announcing Invisible Country: New Edition

Annamaria on Monday

 

I had intended to take a long-awaited turn at BSP (Blatant Self-Promotion) in this post.  But then, this past Friday, Caro began her blog with these words, "The publishing world is a total confusion to me." She went on to say that she didn't understand it and didn't really want to.  I share Caro's bewilderment!  She asked if the rest of us have any thoughts.  I have lots to share on that subject. I promise I won't say them all here today.  Today, I will bring up only one.  I will take up the a larger discussion some other Monday soon.

I had intended for Invisible Country to be my first novel.  But then a visit to the ancient city of Potosi, now in Bolivia, got me so intrigued that it pushed aside Paraguay and City of Silver launched first.

As my "second child," Invisible Country did not make as big a splash as its older sister.  My publisher - with the introduction of eBooks - had stopped publishing paperbacks.  In their business model, the place of paperback editions was taken by the eBook, thanks to its much lower production costs.  Bookstore owners, however, told me repeatedly, that I needed to be in paperback, that there were lots of readers who would want my stuff at the lower paperback price.  Alas, there was nothing I could do about that.  Thanks to contractual obligations, the paperback had to wait until now.

Once I had the rights back, my agent arranged for the current paperback version. The book is the same.  Here is all about it:

Inivisble Country

Paraguay, 1868
A war against Argentina, Brazil, and Uruguay has devastated Paraguay. Ninety percent of the males between the ages of eight and eighty have died. Food is scarce. In the small village of Santa Caterina, Padre Gregorio advises the women of his congregation to abandon the laws of the church and get pregnant by what men are available. As he leaves the pulpit, he discovers the murdered body of Ricardo Yotté, one of the most powerful men in the country, at the bottom of the belfry.

Suspects abound; Eliza Lynch, a former Parisian courtesan now the consort of the brutal dictator Francisco Solano López. She had entrusted to Yotté the country's now-missing treasury of gold and jewels. López himself, who may have suspected Yotté of an affair with the beautiful Eliza. Comandante Luis Menenez, local representative of the dictator, who competed with Yotté for López's favor. And a Brazilian soldier who has secretly taken up with a village girl.

To avoid having an innocent person dragged off to torture and death, a band of villagers undertakes to solve the crime. Each carries secrets they seek to protect from the others, while they pursue their quest for the truth.

Lyrical, complex, and meticulously researched, Annamaria Alfieri's Invisible Country is an ingenious cross between Isabel Allende and Agatha Christie.

Critical Acclaim for Invisible Country

"An engrossing, fast-paced mystery packed full of historical fact that illuminates  the story but never overshadows it; a great read, highly recommended." - Historical Novel Society

"(Alfieri's) excellent historical mystery has...heartache and sorrow, but it also has romance and humor...The mystery is the icing on an already delicious cake....people with whom I fell in love...Invisible Country is a mystery that will nearly impossible to forget." - Gumshoe Review

"Alfieri has written an antiwar mystery that compares with the notable novels of Charles Todd."
- Kirkus Review

"The author's recreation of Paraguay in the 1860s is perfectly entwined with the plot and never comes off like a travelogue or historical research. Fans of historical mysteries should not pass this one up."
- Mystery Scene Magazine

If you want an escape to an exotic place at a dramatic moment, I hope you will choose my time machine!  Ticket price: $12.99 for first class.  $6.99 in coach.