“Prose that penentrates the reader’s mind like speed, fast paced, without an ounce of fat.” Weltwoche
“A wonderful crime novel. If justice prevailed, Fauser would be world-famous overnight.” Frankfurt Allgemeine
£8.99/$13.95
Crime paperback original, ISBN 978-1-904738-05-3
www.bitterlemonpress.com
SOMEONE ELSE
Tonino Benacquista
“A great read from one of France’s best crime writers. A tale peppered with humour, unpredictable twists and a healthy dose of suspense. It all makes for a cracking read, with witty insights into the vagaries of human nature.”
Guardian
Who hasn’t wanted to become “someone else”? The person you’ve always wanted to be . . . the person who won’t give up half way to your dreams and desires?
One evening two men who have just met at a Paris tennis club make a bet: they give each other exactly three years to radically alter their lives. Thierry, a picture framer with a steady clientele, has always wanted to be a private investigator. Nicolas is a shy, teetotal executive trying not to fall off the corporate ladder. But becoming someone else is not without risk; at the very least, the risk of finding yourself.
“Benacquista writes with humor and verve. This novel is less a mystery than a deftly constructed diptych of existential escapism: each story offers a unique map to new possibilities in the midst of suffocating lives.” Rain Taxi
“This has been a big hit in France, and it is easy to see why – Thierry’s attempts to slip into a story by Simenon and Nicolas’s explosive encounter with vodka make for unexpected, cynical comedy.” The Times
“Exuberantly written, Benacquista’s book is another triumph for the genre-bending approach to crime fiction.”
Tangled Web
Winner of the RTL-LIRE Prize.
£9.99/$14.95
Crime paperback original
ISBN 1 – 904738 – 12 – 5/978 – 1904738 – 12 – 1
www.bitterlemonpress.com
TEQUILA BLUE
Rolo Diez
“Like a Peckinpah movie: violent, funny, sad, as hot as salsa, as tasty as tacos and twice as enjoyable.”
Independent on Sunday
It’s not easy being a cop in Mexico City.
Meet Carlos Hernandez, Carlito to his women. He’s a police detective with a complicated life. A wife, a mistress, children by both and a paycheck that never seems to arrive. This being Mexico, he resorts to money laundering and arms dealing to finance his police activity. The money for justice must be found somewhere.
The corpse in the hotel room is that of a gringo with a weakness for blue movies. Carlito’s maverick investigation leads him into a labyrinth of gang wars, murdered prostitutes and corrupt politicians. A savagely funny, sexy crime adventure that is a biting satire of life in Mexico.
Rolo Diez, born in Argentina in 1940, was imprisoned for two years during the military dictatorship and forced into exile. He now lives in Mexico City, where he works as a novelist, screenwriter and journalist.
Both a scathing and picaresque comedy, a biting and spicy concoction. Just like tequila.” Le Monde
£8.99/$13.95
Crime paperback original, ISBN 978-1-904738-04-6
www.bitterlemonpress.com
A WALK IN THE DARK
Gianrico Carofiglio
“Carofiglio writes crisp, ironical novels that are as much love stories and philosophical treatises as they are legal thrillers.”
New Yorker
When Martina accuses her ex-boyfriend – the son of a powerful local judge – of assault and battery, no witnesses can be persuaded to testify on her behalf and one lawyer after another refuses to represent her. Guido Guerrieri knows the case could bring his legal career to a premature and messy end but he cannot resist the appeal of a hopeless cause. Nor deny an attraction to Sister Claudia, the young woman in charge of the shelter where Martina is living, who shares his love of martial arts and his virulent hatred of injustice.
Gianrico Carofiglio is an anti-Mafia prosecutor in southern Italy. A Walk in the Dark, his second novel featuring defence counsel Guerrieri, follows on from the success of Involuntary Witness.
PRAISE FOR A WALK IN THE DARK
“This novel raises the standard for crime fiction. Carofiglio’s deft touch has given us a story that is both literary and gritty – and one that speeds along like the best legal thrillers. His insights into human nature — good and bad — are breathtaking.” Jeffery Deaver
“A Walk in the Dark, features an engagingly complex, emotional and moody defence lawyer, Guido Guerrieri, who takes on cases shunned by his colleagues. In passing, Carofiglio provides a fascinating insight into the workings of the Italian criminal justice system.” Observer
“Part legal thriller, part insight into a man fighting his own demons. Every character in Carofiglio’s fiction has a story to tell and they are always worth hearing . . . this powerfully affecting novel benefits from veracity as well as tight writing.” Daily Mail
£9.99/$14.95
Crime paperback original
ISBN 1 – 904738 – 17 – 6/978 – 1904738 – 17 – 6
www.bitterlemonpress.com
BITTER LEMON PRESS
First published in the United Kingdom in 2005 by
Bitter Lemon Press, 37 Arundel Gardens, London W11 2LW
Reprinted 2005, 2006, 2007
www.bitterlemonpress.com
First published in Spanish as Máscaras by
Tusquets Editores, S.A., Barcelona, 1997
Bitter Lemon Press gratefully acknowledges the financial assistance of the Arts Council of England
© Leonardo Padura Fuentes 1997
English translation © Peter Bush 2005
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be
reproduced in any form or by any means without written
permission of the publisher
The moral rights of Leonardo Padura Fuentes
and Peter Bush have been asserted in accordance with
the Copyright, Designs, and Patents Act 1988
A CIP record for this book is available from the British Library
eISBN : 978-1-904-73885-5
Typeset by RefineCatch Limited, Broad Street, Bungay, Suffolk
Printed and bound by Cox & Wyman Ltd
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