Wilson, Robert. The Ignorance of Blood. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. June 2009. c.432p. ISBN 978-0-15-101245-9. $27.00. Fiction.
In Wilson’s fourth and final Seville thriller, Chief Inspector Javier Falcón tries to solve two cases, which end up intruding on his messy personal life. Set in September 2006, three months after the bombing of a mosque in Seville and the arrest of Investigative Judge Esteban Calderón for murder (The Hidden Assassins), this novel focuses not only on the many ramifications of those events but also on the accidental death of a Russian mafioso caught between two dueling crime bosses trying to corner Seville's drug trade and muscle in on a massive construction project. At the same time, one of Falcón’s best friends, Yacoub Diouri, recruited as an agent by Spanish Intelligence, has penetrated the radical Moroccan Islamic Combatant Group, only to learn that his son has joined the mujahideen. Yacoub’s gay lover, a member of the Saudi royal family, may be in their sights. When someone kidnaps the son of Falcón’s lover to blackmail the inspector, he finds himself stirring a lot of pots at the same time. Readers new to the series may find the complications overwhelming. For those patient enough to work through the details, however, this is a fitting end, with all loose threads firmly knotted.