A mystery like no other - The Infatuations

Simply put, Javier Marias's novel The Infatuations is a mystery like none other (there will be spoilers to follow) - in that the first question it raises is: Is this a mystery? Only about half-way through do we get any clear sense that the story is not about the tragedy of a random killing by a madman but a story about a carefully planned murder. Or is it? Unlike most, all, other mysteries, it's not a matter of who dunnit but a matter of was it done at all? As we gradually learn, as the evidence mounts, that Miguel was the victim of a murder plot and not of a random, senseless killing, we then begin to focus on the fate not of the killer but of the young woman, Maria, the narrator, who inadvertently learns of the potential killing. Will she be the next victim? Will one killing, a la Macbeth, lead to a series of killings? The novel is vastly strange in that it's a murder mystery in which we see no action whatsoever and in fact see no official investigation - the police, private detectives, amateur detectives - play no role in this story. The interrogator is the curious Maria, who hears about the murder plot and gradually pieces things together by listening to the long monologues that the killer, or the instigator at least, delivers. Right up to the end, she is in some doubt as to the nature of the conspiracy: the instigator, Javier, tries to persuade her that the victim has asked to be killed so as to avoid suffering through terminal cancer with which, allegedly, had had been diagnosed. The preposterous nature of this claim is so outrageous that we, and Maria, almost believe it - though not quite. What finally makes this such an unusual and compelling novel is the weird conclusion - Maria decides not to tell what she knows, not because she's afraid but because the revelation would do no one any good and would be harmful to the widow, Luisa. It's at the end a victimless crime or more accurately an unknown crime - as Maria and Javier reflect, there are no doubt thousands, millions of crimes not unsolved but unrevealed, all that time. The one fly in the ointment, so to speak, is the poor homeless guy who committed the act. I know there's some reference to his being "better off" in prison or mental hospital than living on the streets - and he did commit a crime - but if Maria shared her knowledge is would certainly be helpful in his defense and in alleviating the sentence. Still, a very strange and provocative novel - not for every reader, because of its talkiness and lack of action - but a rare mystery novel that won't keep you guessing but rather will start you thinking.