Mystery set mainly in ARGENTINA

5th May 2025

The Best Enemy by Sergio Olguín, mystery set mainly in ARGENTINA.

TR: Miranda France

The Best Enemy is the fourth in the Veronica Rosenthal Mysteries, and takes in the murky underworld of business and politics in Argentina and its intersection, in both an historical and contemporary sense, with Israel. The uncovering of dark secrets by protagonist journalist Veronica Rosenthal and her associates drives a reasonably complex plot involving the death of an old journalist and his wife, and the kidnapping of Veronica’s friend. Veronica sets out to find out why the journalist was killed. Meanwhile, her lawyer partner and his firm are handling a complex divorce case of a powerful local businessman.

The novel opens with a chapter-length prologue depicting a young doctor dedicating himself to working in a hospital in Gaza, and to his untimely death in a bombing. The novel then moves on to portray the protagonist and journalist sleuth Veronica as a child. This is followed by an introduction to another journalist along with considerable if vital backstory to various players at the newspaper Veronica works for. This triple door entry into the story is a little disorienting, and as a result, it does take a while for the story to get going. The Israel/Palestine theme doesn’t reappear until halfway through the novel. When it does, it comes with an interesting overview of conditions in Palestine pre and post the formation of Israel, and the ongoing persecution of Palestinians. In true political thriller style, Olguín is keen for his readers to understand the context, and to also understand how, in this sense, Argentina and Israel are related. I love receiving a mini education through the fiction, and applaud the author for how he manages to slot that in. The novel is also an ode to ethical journalism and, again, the author knows his turf.

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Tempering politics is the attention paid to Veronica’s personal life, and the dilemma her partner faces. There is no strong sense of place in a geographical sense, no thick, evocative descriptions of settings. Buenos Aires could be anywhere. Yet by taking his readers into a corrupt, underbelly world of government officials and businesspeople the author evokes a powerful sense of place nonetheless.

Olguín has adopted a hardboiled narrative style, dispassionate and more in keeping with a thriller than a mystery, and a style that makes for a very fast read. The reader will need a good head for minor character names at first. In all, The Best Enemy is well worth a read, and for lovers of political thrillers, I recommend starting at Book One.

Guest Review by Isobel Blackthorn

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Isobel is a prolific Australian novelist. She writes both contemporary/literary, thrillers and dark fiction. Follow her on Facebook, Twitter and via her website. 

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