The Crime Fiction Alphabet arrives this week to the letter “n”. And my N is for Nonídez. Manuel Nonidez won the XIII García Pavón Award for detective fiction with Frío de muerte [Cold Death] (Rey Lear editores, 2010) a novel that brings to light the miseries of a time when politicians join forces with other powers to subjugate the people to privation and injustice with an iron fist. You can find my previous post HERE. Unfortunately his book is not available in English.
Manuel Garcia Nonidez (Madrid, 1954) is a chartered accountant, but as life takes unforeseen paths, he works as a computer programmer for a company in Madrid. He is passionate about, obviously, books (but he doesn’t know yet whether he prefers to read or to write them), theatre, cinema, music, museums, Internet, research (for documenting his books), hiking in the countryside and in the city, and chatting with his friends.
Manuel Nonídez website (in Spanish)
Summary: During the last years of the reign of Isabel II, monarchy degradation is aggravated by military and political corruption. In this socio-political climate, Madrid wakes up with the finding of a child’s body savagely mutilated. It’s not the first case, but nobody seems to care about a corpse with no name or surname. Nobody except Isaac Arribas, district superintendent unarmed against the horror of a decadent Spain. Arribas does not believe in symbols or parties and his professional experience makes him sink into despair. Along with the shadow of Larra, the pages of this exciting story move along the darker side of human and historical tradition that it is often condemned to obscurity. While Nonidez creates a stimulating crime fiction that delves into solving crimes up to its last consequences, he describes with documented details aspects of the nineteenth century that reflect a climate dominated by obscurantism and secret cenacles that constrain society with a cold death.
The Crime Fiction Alphabet 2012 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 the contribution of other fellow bloggers.
A Crime is Afoot 