Chief Inspector Max Cámara thinks in proverbs - ones his Anarchist grandfather repeats all the time - but he hates one thing above all... bullfighting.

So when he’s roped into investigating the murder of Spain’s most celebrated matador, found dead in the middle of Valencia bullring, he has to deal with violent shadows from his own past, as well confronting the suspiciousness of the bullfighting community and the stonewalling of local politicians in full electoral campaign. To top it all, Fallas, the loudest fiesta in the country, has just got underway.

Meanwhile his girlfriend is having problems getting pregnant, and she’s blaming it on him.

For Cámara, it seems his problems have only just begun...

'[Max Cámara is]one of the most attractive figures to enter recent detective fiction...Like the best detective stories, this book becomes a scrutiny of our own most powerful drives and secrets.'

The Independent

 

'The Spanish city of Valencia looks dazzling in Jason Webster's first novel. Even as the violence escalates and the symbolism thickens, the estimable Inspector Camara remains open-minded, if a bit cynical, about the grand follies of his beautiful city.'

New York Times