The Crime Fiction Alphabet arrives this week to letter “t”, and my T is for Taibo. Paco Ignacio Taibo II or PIT as he likes to be called, was born in Asturias, Spain in 1949. His parents emigrated to Mexico in 1958. Taibo’s political loyalties were cemented in the student movement of 1968 (Boston Review). PIT is most widely known as a crime novelist, the author of a book series featuring Hector Belascoarán Shayne, a fictional private eye. For additional information about the Belascoarán series read An Easy Thing by Paco Ignacio Taibo II. The nine books (click on the English title for a brief summary) in chronological order, as far as I know, are:
- Días de combate (1976)
- Cosa fácil (1977) English translation: An Easy Thing (2002)
- Algunas nubes (1985) English translation: Some Clouds (2002)
- No habrá final feliz (1985) English translation: No Happy Ending (2003)
- Regreso a la misma ciudad y bajo la lluvia (1989) English translation: Return to the Same City (2007)
- Amorosos fantasmas (1989)
- Sueños de frontera (1990) English translation: Frontera Dreams (2002)
- Desvanecidos difuntos (1991)
- Adiós Madrid (1993) (The only novel that is not located in Mexico City)
Paco Ignacio Taibo II at Wikipedia
Paco Ignacio Taibo II at Mis detectives favorit@s (in Spanish).
Días de comabate (Planeta 2004) is on my TBR shelf and I look forward to reading it soon, stay tuned.
The blurb reads: This month of July, the most emblematic detectives dare to answer these questions. A month dedicated to crime and mystery, a fine selection of titles from the great authors of the genre. The best tribute to a wonderful genre: crime fiction. A women strangler is on the loose in the city of Mexico. Hector Belascoarán Shayne, a retired engineer by his own will who has turned into a private eye, tries to stop the murderer. The only clues to decipher these crimes are the notes found on the victim’s corpses signed under the pseudonym “Cerevro”. (My free translation).
There is a Kindle edition Todo Belascoarán (in Spanish) available at Amazon.es and Amazon.com that includes: Días de combate, Cosa fácil, Algunas nubes, No habrá final feliz, Regreso a la misma ciudad y bajo la lluvia, Amorosos fantasmas, Sueños de frontera, Desvanecidos difuntos and Adiós, Madrid.
The 2012 Crime Fiction Alphabet is a Community Meme hosted by Kerrie at Mysteries in Paradise. By Friday of each week participants try to write a blog post about crime fiction related to the letter of the week. Click HERE to visit other suggestions from fellow participants.
A Crime is Afoot 
José Ignacio – I am glad you featured Taibo’s work. I’ve always thought of him as a Mexican writer and didn’t realise he was born in Spain. His Hector Shyne is an interesting character; I’ll be eager to see what you think when you’ve read Días de comabate.