A Petra Delicado mystery

“Inspector Petra Delicado and Sgt. Fermín Garzón prove to be one of the more engaging sleuth teams to debut in a long time.”—The Washington Post

Tough, sexy, at times apparently pitiless, Petra Delicado is a new kind of cop in Spanish crime writing. As she battles with sexist colleagues, ruthless reporters, indifferent witnesses, hardened criminals, and houseplants that just won’t flower, she sometimes thinks her thirst for new challenges and perpetual change is more trouble than it’s worth.

Inspector Delicado has been chained to a tiresome desk job in the documentation department of the Barcelona police force for months. But things are about to change. The department is short-handed and there’s a serial rapist on the loose. Delicado is partnered with the portly and impossibly compliant Sergeant Fermín Garzón with orders to solve the case before it succeeds in ruining the good name of the Barcelona police force. However, the only lead they have is the rapist’s mysterious signature: a circular mark of unknown origins he leaves on his victims’ forearms. No witnesses, no other leads, and no help from the victims themselves. To further complicate her life, Inspector Delicado is trying to shake off two ex-husbands, Hugo, who persists in shamelessly belittling her, and Pepe, as helpless and hapless as a little boy in her absence.

From the winner of the Feminino Lumen Prize for best female writer in Spain, comes this gripping and entertaining new book in the Petra Delicado series.

Praise for the Petra Delicado mysteries

“Is there anything quite as satisfying to the mystery lover as discovering a pair of made-for-each-other police partners? […] Alicia Giménez-Bartlett gives us similar cause for appreciation.”—The Philadelphia Inquirer

“Alicia Giménez-Bartlett won the Feminino Lumen prize as best female writer in Spain, and Dog Day, the first book in her ongoing series about Barcelona Police Inspector Petra Delicado and her partner, Sgt. Fermín Garzón, shows why.”—Chicago Tribune

“The mystery is clever and beautifully plotted, but it is in the characters that this novel really excels.”—Mostly Fiction

“Dog Day’s comic heroes go together like fire and water.” ––Der Standard

Alicia Giménez-Bartlett
Alicia Gimenez-Bartlett was born in Almansa, Spain, in 1951 and has lived in Barcelona since 1975. After the enormous success of her first novels, she decided to leave her work as a teacher of Spanish literature to dedicate herself full-time to writing. In 1997, she was awarded the Feminino Lumen prize for the best female writer in Spain. She subsequently launched her Petra Delicado series, quickly making her into one of Spain’s most popular and loved crime writers.

• Sep 9 2008
  New York Times: "Petra is developing into a good cop, and her earnest efforts to assert her authority...are worth cheering."
  
• Jul 1 2008
  Mostly Fiction: "Though [the mystery here] is clever, it takes second place to the characters and how they became the people they are, both as victims and as aggressors."