1. Five stories by Teresa Solana, one of Spain’s most successful mystery writers. Bitter Lemon is now publishing ’The Sound of One Hand Killing’ her third satirical crime novel to feature twin brother detectives Borja and Eduard. Solana is Barcelona based and is known as ‘the Queen of Catalan Noir’. The other two titles in the series are ‘A Not So Perfect Crime’ and ‘A Shortcut to Paradise’.
2. These stories remind one of the best short stories by Stephen King, such as those in the ‘Just after Sunset’ compilation. They can be horrific but are never without a devastating sense of humor. As in the adult short stories of Roald Dahl (the ‘Kiss Kiss’ collection in particular, with its tales of family and other violence) there is great ingenuity, surprising and satisfying endings, and, since it’s Solana, deep cutting satire of contemporary fads and mores.
3. The irreverence, and wonderful pace will appeal to readers of Shalom Auslander’s ‘Beware of God’ stories. You will be laughing out loud as you read them before the deeper and sometimes poignant impact of the stories sinks in.
