There are some nasty surprises and red herrings along the way, for we all know that Dolores Redondo can spin a good yarn. She’s been one of Spain’s brightest crime fiction exports in recent years, and in this book she continues her exploration of chafing family ties and tainted blood which made her Baztán trilogy quite unique ... It may start out as small domestic betrayals, but it ends up being a long, hard, critical look at certain sections of Spanish society, including the Catholic church ... If you prefer lots of action, the book will seem unnecessarily long-winded. There are certainly a few passages that could have done with some tightening, especially when the story seems obvious but the protagonists are incapable of seeing the truth. If you want to become completely immersed in another culture, however, or if you can’t get enough of complicated family relationships, this is a good foray into Spanish crime fiction.
...emotionally vivid ... All This I Will Give to You has much to reveal ... Ms. Redondo unfolds her lengthy saga at a steady pace, with an abundance of detail. The patient reader will be rewarded with revelations both dramatic and poignant.
Even with the contemporary references to gay marriage and a few pages devoted to a long-ago sexual assault in a seminary, it’s all a bit familiar, as you may surmise. The question is whether such a light story justifies the thickness of the book it fills. Reading it is, in general, pleasant, and the novel is entertaining. The prose is not overtly verbose or pretentious. Yet you have the suspicion that Agatha Christie would have cooked the same stew in a pot half the size.
Even though [the book] is fairly long, it moves at a fast pace that keeps the pages turning. Thankfully it is one of the Spanish mysteries that does not just take place in one of the big cities. Instead, it gives us a view of a more rural lifestyle.
With the beautiful Galician countryside as backdrop, Redondo weaves an impressively intricate story line filled with more than a few bombshell plot twists. This door stopper of a novel will leave readers utterly satisfied.
