Introducing one of crime fiction′s most legendary detectives, and greatest writers, to America
The Argentine army′s “Dirty War” disappeared 30,000 people in six years and the last thing Pepe Carvalho wants is to investigate another vanished person, even if that missing person is his cousin. But blood proves thicker than a fine Mendoza Cabernet Savignon even for a nihilistic gourmand like Pepe.
Once there, he quickly learns that “Buenos Aires is a beautiful city hell-bent on self destruction” and he′ll have to confront the traumas of Argentina′s past head on if he wants to stay alive, and find his cousin.
The Quintet is a moving psychological travelogue inhabited by boxers, scholars, seductive semioticians and Borges and infused with the tango, music, literature and, as always, divine cuisine.
Review
“The most metaphysical gumshoe on the streets. . . the plot is as concerned with exploring capitalism′s malignancy as it is with corpses and *femmes fatales.*”
—*The Times*
“Montalbán does for Barcelona what Chandler did for Los Angeles—he exposes the criminal power relationships beneath the facade of democracy.”
—*The Guardian*
About the Author
Born in Barcelona in 1939, poet, playwright, essayist, and novelist Manuel VГЎzquez MontalbГЎn was one of Spain′s greatest writers. A well-known gourmand, he also wrote often about food. He is best known for his crime series featuring Pepe Carvalho, which won him international acclaim and numerous awards, including the Planeta Prize and the International Grand Prix de Littérature Policière. He died in 2003 in Hong Kong, on his way home to Barcelona.
Nick Caistor's translations from Spanish and Portuguese include works by José Saramago, Paulo Coelho, and Eduardo Mendoza.