Pedro Molina Temboury

A Pepe Carvalho story.

When the corpse of Encarna Abellan appears destroyed on a beach in Barcelona, the detective Pepe Carvalho begins the research and travels to A Coruña. She was married to a wealthy owner belonging to a well-known A Coruña family and had traveled to Barcelona to undergo a fertility treatment, but had previously had relations with Ginés Larios, a merchant navy officer and ex-boyfriend, whom he had left to marry the rich heir The suicide of the latter seems to be the case by closed, however Carvalho decides to try to clarify everything.

Carvalho is hired to investigate the alleged threats to the daughter of the civil governor of Barcelona. Step by step, Carvalho realizes that there is something hidden in core of the mystery that goes back to something that happened in the past and that is related to the governor himself.

Carvalho becomes involved in the search for a missing young dancer, daughter of a famous artist. The search for the dancer's last steps in Barcelona leads him to Italy, where she is supposed to have taken a cruise on the Mediterranean.

Leo Minués, who used to be a classmate of Carvalho, is found dead the same day he had to testify in a case of corruption and someone asks Carvalho to investigate it. He accepts the case and finds out that Leo was collecting illegal funds for his political party. From that moment, a number of signs appear. This allows Carvalho to discover that Mínguez had made a list of the people involved in the case of corruption. Some videotapes appear, which makes things even more complicated, and Carvalho finds himself walking on shifting land, surrounded by celebrities in the highest spheres. Why did Mínguez die? Who has got the list?

To revive its sagging fortunes, Barcelona FC has bought the services of Jack Mortimer, European Footballer of the Year. No sooner has Mortimer taken possession of his company Porsche than death threats start arriving. Are they a hoax, the work of a loner or are they connected to the awesome real estate speculation that is tearing Barcelona apart? While Catalan pimps and racketeers are being hustled off the streets by crime syndicates from the Middle East, Pepe Carvalho is thinking of retirement, but the need to save the soul of his beloved Barcelona forces him to take on a case that can only end in disaster.