Tomé, Abel
NIGHT OF THE CROW
by Tomé, Abel
The island of Gothard is a law unto itself. Separated from the mainland by a long bridge, it has its own chancellor and popular jury. The island is run by two powerful families, the Faols (who own the silver mine) and the Cárthaigs (who own the bank). Decisions are taken by popular vote in the main square, Wolf Tongue. But when the schoolteacher and his family turn up dead in the house next to the lighthouse, Beth police force is called to the scene. The inspector in charge of the case is Gonçalves. He lives in Beth, a city that has two faces according to how much money you have, though he originally hails from Galataz in the north of the country. He is haunted by the memory of his wife, Anne Marie. The other officers on the case are Pietre, a sex addict who smokes too much, and Lúa, whose father suffers from Alzheimer’s and whose great-grandfather was from the island. Aidan Faol, the chancellor, doesn’t take kindly to outside interference, and Gonçalves will need to have all his wits about him if he is to get to the truth of why the schoolteacher and his family were murdered. This will involve unearthing some dirty secrets about the island itself and will force Gonçalves to confront his own past in one of the best crime novels to have come out of Galicia in the last twenty years.
Publication Date: 26 October 2022 / Language: English / Paperback: 198 pages / Dimensions: 203 x 133 mm / Price: Consult the catalogue
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What caught my attention about this book is the setting, the Island of Gothard, which reminds me of places like the Channel Islands or the Isle of Man, where bits of the old feudal system are still around on the island. Add to that, the two main families. Then, the secrets of the island’s two main families, the three main officers, all have their own burdens, from constantly looking at the females of the islands to Lúa’s own connection to the island. Then add the four dead bodies, and you have the making of what is an excellent gem of a novel.
