Maxim Jakubowski's view...

The Pepe Carvalho series by the late Spanish writer brings Barcelona to life in a rainbow of colours, smells and tastes. The gourmet sleuth has a touch of Maigret, but with an added Mediterranean joie-de-vivre and his cases and villainous opponents are no less gaudy and original, A pity there will be no more, but for the newcomer there are eight available in English.

Comparison: David Hewson, Barbara Nadel, Michael Dibdin
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Synopsis

Pepe Carvalho, ex-cop, ex-marxist and constant gourmet, is working as a private detective in Barcelona, when a body is pulled out of the sea, its face so badly destroyed that the only way of identifying it is through a tattoo that says: 'Born to raise hell in hell'.A local hairdresser hires Carvalho to find out who the man is. Meanwhile, the Barcelona police make a connection between the murder and local drug dealers and prostitutes, and they begin raiding bars and brothels.A lead on the identity of the murdered man brings Carvalho to Amsterdam, where he gets entangled with a drug gang. As the pace accelerates, Carvalho realises that this is no straightforward John Doe case.

Reviews

'Pepe Carvalho is a phlegmatic investigator. His greatest concern is with his stomach, but when not pursuing delicacies, he can unravel the most tangled of mysteries'
Sunday Times

'Montalban is a writer who is caustic about the powerful and tender towards the oppressed'
TLS

'Montalban does for Barcelona what Chandler did for Los Angeles - he exposes the criminal power relationships beneath the facade of democracy'
Guardian

'An inventive and sexy writer... warmly recommended'
Irish Independent

'Montalban writes with authority and compassion - a Le Carre-like sorrow'
Publishers Weekly

About the Author

Manuel Vazquez Montalban was born in Barcelona in 1939. He was a journalist, novelist and creator of Pepe Carvalho, a fast-living, gourmet private detective. Montalban won both the Raymond Chandler Prize and the French Grand Prix of Detective Fiction for his thrillers, which are translated into all major languages. He died in October 2003. More books by this author Author 'Like for Like' recommendation