Selection of books by Alicia Giménez Bartlett

This name might sound familiar. Yes, she recently won the 2015 Planeta Prize for her novel "Naked Men ." But Alicia Giménez is much more than just a Planeta Prize winner. Today, in this article, we'll review some of her best works. Stick around, especially if you enjoy crime novels—you'll find them here.

Below is a selection of books by Alicia Giménez Bartlett, especially for those who said they weren't very familiar with her when she received her last award. Her work is well worth reading, I assure you.

"Rites of death" (1996)

This is the first novel in the Petra Delicado series . Police inspector Petra Delicado of the Barcelona Documentation Service and her subordinate Fermín Garzón must take charge of a rape case with only one clue: the strange mark the rapist left on the victim's arm.

"Where No One Will Find You" (2011)

A Sorbonne psychiatrist specializing in criminal minds travels to Barcelona in 1956. He wants to study the case of Teresa Pla Meseguer, known as La Pastora, a woman accused of twenty-nine murders. She is the most wanted member of the Spanish Maquis by the Civil Guard and has become a popular legend because she remains at large. Only one Barcelona journalist seems to have important clues about her, but what the French traveler proposes is something out of the ordinary: he doesn't want information about Teresa, but a face-to-face meeting. Throughout their investigation, they must evade the guards' surveillance, distinguish true leads from false ones, and overcome the countless obstacles they encounter. The novel then becomes a quest, an escape, an adventure that reveals the miseries and the humanity of a terrible Spain. And at the heart of this raw and fascinating story, beyond the myth of the guerrilla fighter, emerges the unexpected character of the Shepherdess, historical and real, who was always on the run from the world and from himself.

Where No One Will Find You is a novel about the rediscovery of our past and the infinite loneliness of the human being.

"Nobody wants to know" (2013)

Inspector Petra Delicado and Sub-Inspector Fermín Garzón have inherited a case that had remained silent for five years: Alfonso Siguán, a 70-year-old Barcelona textile businessman, killed in sordid sexual circumstances. His body was found in his apartment, where he had gone in the company of a young prostitute . Blame fell on her pimp, but he was found dead in Marbella three days later. The investigation was closed without merit. Now Petra and Fermín face the fearful silence of the only witness, the prostitute, and the puzzle of the businessman's professional and family life. The investigation moves to Rome, where Petra experiences new and risky situations that confirm Alicia Giménez Bartlett's skill in making Petra Delicado one of the most compelling characters in contemporary Spanish fiction.

"Crimes I Will Not Forget" (2015)

Across nine episodes, Petra Delicado leads the investigation of nine crimes that disrupt the usual flow of annual events like Christmas, Carnival, and summer vacation. Even during these times, the inspector can't ignore what fate has in store for her. Family life, with its unavoidable moments, is constantly disrupted by the recurring presence of crime, revealing the most hidden aspects of our most compelling police force.

This novel was the 2015 Pepe Carvalho Prize.

"Naked Men" (2015)

No one can imagine the extent to which turbulent times can transform us into people we never thought possible. Naked Men is a novel about the present we are living in, where men in their thirties and older lose their jobs and may end up stripping in a club, and where more and more women prioritize their careers over any romantic or family commitments. In this story, these men and women come into contact and collide, with unforeseen consequences. Sex, friendship, innocence, and evil—it's all in this book.

And you, which one are you going to start with?