Detective Fiction, Animals - Fiction, Women Detectives - Fiction, European Peoples & Cultures - Fiction & Literature, Police Stories

Dog Day

Name: Dog Day
Author: Alicia Gimenez-Bartlett
ISBN: 9781933372143

by Alicia Gimenez-Bartlett, Nick Caistor

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Overview

"Gimenez-Bartlett has discovered a world full of dark corners and hidden elements." ——ABC

In this hardboiled fiction for dog lovers and lovers of dog mysteries, detective Petra Delicado and her maladroit sidekick, Garzon, investigate the murder of a tramp whose only friend is a mongrel dog named "Fright." One murder leads to another and Delicado finds herself involved in the sordid, dangerous world of fight dogs. Dog Day is first-rate entertainment.

Alicia Gimenez-Bartlett was awarded the Feminino Lumen prize for the best female writer in Spain in 1997. She subsequently launched her Petra Delicado series, quickly turning her into one of Spain's most popular and best-loved crime writers.

Synopsis

"Gimenez-Bartlett has discovered a world full of dark corners and hidden elements." ——ABC

Publishers Weekly

American readers will welcome Gimenez-Bartlett's detective duo of Insp. Petra Delicado and Sgt. Fermin Garzon in this sharply honed tale of dog trafficking in Barcelona. Delicado and Garzon investigate the near-fatal beating of a derelict whose sole possession seems to be a peculiar-looking dog. As the partners piece together the last few days of the victim's life, they learn his name, Lucena, and that he sold dogs to local universities and pharmaceutical companies for experiments. When a huge stash of cash turns up in Lucena's barren apartment, the detectives know their man was caught up in something far more lucrative than selling dogs for research. Both the case and the personal lives of Delicado and Garzon become more complicated, as the inspector gets involved with a local veterinarian and Garzon finds himself in a love triangle with a bookstore owner and dog trainer. Gimenez-Bartlett, who in 1997 won the Feminino Lumen prize for the best female writer in Spain, has produced a dark, distinctive and surprisingly funny novel sure to appeal not just to dog lovers. (June) Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.

About the Author, Alicia Gimenez-Bartlett

Alicia Gimenez-Bartlett was born in Almansa (Spain) in 1951. In 1997, she was awarded the Feminino Lumen prize for the best female writer in Spain. She subsequently launched her Petra Delicado series, which quickly turned her into one of Spain's most popular and loved crime writers.

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Editorials

Publishers Weekly

Library Journal

A man is found badly beaten on a street in Barcelona, Spain. As he lies in a coma in the hospital, Inspector Petra Delicado and Sergeant Fermin Garzon try to identify the victim. The two officers have very little to go on, but a dog found abandoned in a dingy apartment leads them into the underground world of dog trafficking and fights. The author cleverly divides her story between the actual investigation and the private lives of her investigators. A fast-paced plot and engaging characters set in a city not overly used in the mystery genre make this a good choice for most collections. Gimenez-Bartlett, winner of the Feminino Lumen Prize for best female writer in Spain, is very popular in her native country for her Petra Delicado series. She lives in Barcelona. Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.

Kirkus Reviews

The fatal beating of a loner takes a pair of cops deep into the underside of Barcelona, which seems to be populated entirely by the worst kind of dog people. The victim is discovered with his money intact but his identification carefully removed. It's not until neighbors complain about an unattended dog's whining in an apparently vacant apartment that he's identified as the dog's owner, Ignacio Lucena Pastor. At first, Inspector Petra Delicado and her colleague, Sergeant Ferm'n Garz-n, can find no motive for the assault, which escalates to murder when Lucena dies without regaining consciousness after several days in the hospital. What they find instead is the unexpected possibility of romance-Petra with handsome veterinarian Juan Monturiol, Ferm'n with both philosophical pet bookseller Angela Chamorro and sexy dog trainer Valentina Cortes. Closer perhaps to true love is the devotion Petra shares with Freaky, the dog Lucena left behind. In a city where stealing and trafficking in dogs isn't criminal, Petra and Ferm'n probe the possible sources of Lucena's hidden wealth. Was he selling dogs to unscrupulous breeders, pharmaceutical labs or organizers of dogfights? In Caistor's fluent translation, veteran Gimenez-Bartlett reveals all the casual brutality of her world and its surprising capacity for compassion. A welcome English-language debut, first published in Spain in 1997, that's bound to remind readers of the 2000 Mexican film Amores Perros, prefigured here as an equally powerful police procedural.