Inspector Espinosa investigates the murder of a corporate executive found dead in his car, piecing together clues surrounding the victim's missing secretary, a life insurance policy, the victim's widow, and two additional murder victims.

A Brazilian bestseller, this sophisticated story of murder, sex, and corruption introduces a riveting new crime series. In a parking garage in the center of Rio de Janeiro, corporate executive Ricardo Carvalho is found dead in his car, a bullet in his head. It appears that he has been robbed and murdered. But the clues are few. The gun and his briefcase are nowhere to be found -- just the kind of case that is always assigned to Inspector Espinosa. Not your typical detective, the world-weary Espinosa has the mind of a philosopher, the heart of a romantic, and enough experience to realize that things are rarely as they first seem. As Espinosa attempts to unravel the mystery of what really happened to Carvalho and his secretary, Rose, who disappeared shortly afterward, he discovers that the businessman had recently taken out a million-dollar life insurance policy. And there's another complication: Espinosa's attraction to Carvalho's beautiful widow, who is also one of the prime suspects. When two more bodies turn up, Espinosa is forced to shift the investigation into high gear before anyone else becomes a casualty. Hurtling to a surprising and satisfying conclusion, The Silence of the Rain is an intelligent, unconventional detective novel with a distinctly Latin American flavor and a colorful, exciting locale. In Espinosa, America is about to meet an irresistible new sleuth.

"Do you have a favorite sound?" little Yoshio asks. The musician answers, "The most beautiful sound is the sound of ma, of silence." But Yoshio lives in Tokyo, Japan: a giant, noisy, busy city. He hears shoes squishing through puddles, trains whooshing, cars beeping, and families laughing. Tokyo is like a symphony hall! Where is silence? Join Yoshio on his journey through the hustle and bustle of the city to find the most beautiful sound of all.

Silence in the Rain was written from my thoughts, feelings, heart, and mind. These words came from my innermost being and are written to inform the reader on life, love, friendship as well as joys, sorrows, hurt, pain and my depressive state. "Silence in the Rain" shows how I kept my silence when I was going through the rain of personal relationships - I kept silent. As the rain was falling down on me: falling from my mind; falling from my eyes; I kept silent I didn't talk to anyone about my innermost thoughts and feelings. I didn't express them openly. I kept them to myself and then began to write them down in my daily journal. Whether I was happy, sad, hurt, depressed, angered, or upset I wrote about it. It didn't matter if I just wanted to stand on the mountaintop or even drift into mid-air, I wrote it down. I guess one would say that I did indeed tell something - or shall I say someone - Myself - my Journal. These poems will not only inspire you, giving you good words of knowledge, but will inform you as well on different emotions that occur along life's journey.

Sunbathing in the Rain is undoubtedly the best book I have ever read about one person's experience of depression.' - Dorothy Rowe, author of Breaking the Bonds 'This upbeat, very readable and engaging view of depression as a temporary retrenchment, a breathing space in which to adjust better to life, makes encouraging reading.' - Spectator 'Gwyneth Lewis writes with clarity, beauty and metaphorical precision. She conveys the darkness, the silence, the selfishness, the mental clutter of depression brilliantly.' - Simon Hattenstone, Guardian 'Welsh poet Gwyneth Lewis shares her personal story of wrestling with clinical depression and describes what she learned along the way about coping with the disease. The text is aimed primarily at those who are currently depressed and are struggling to recover. The emphasis throughout is on the healing power of self-acceptance and truth-telling. This is a reprint of a book first published in London by Flamingo in 2002.' - www.booknews.com This might well be the Age of Depression. More people than ever now experience the disease directly or see a friend or relative succumb to it. Among their number is Gwyneth Lewis. And she set about writing this book simply because she wished something like it had existed for her when she was in the middle of her depression. Depression is assassination. The depressive is both victim and detective - charged with tracking down the perpetrator of his or her own murder. By drawing on her own experience of struggling with the affliction, by highlighting ways of coping, ways of truth-telling, and ways of thriving, in a straightforward, robust fashion full of casual wisdom and easy wit, Gwyneth re-embarks on a journey that nearly killed her first time round and returns with this, perhaps the first truly undogmatic, undemanding, downright useful book about depression.

Describes the changing sounds of the rain, the slow soft sprinkle, the drip-drop tinkle, the sounding pounding roaring rain, and the fresh wet silent after-time of rain.