Matèria grisa / The First Prehistoric Serial Killer and Other Stories
Short stories and novellas , 2017
AMSTERDAM
2019 Shortlisted to the CWA Short Story Dagger Award (UK)
2017 Roc Boronat Literary Prize
A dark, humorous collection of stories by one of Spain’s best-known crime writers.
The oddest things happen. Statues decompose and stink out galleries, two old grandmothers are vengeful killers and a prehistoric detective trails a triple murder that is threatening idyllic cave life.The collection includes the prize-winning Connections, a sparkling web of Barcelona stories that allows Solana to explore the darker side of the city.
"Solana excels herself with this collection of blackly humorous short stories. It's a laugh-out gem of surrealism." Times
“Solana has long been one of the quirkiest and most accomplished of crime writers, but this is something new: wonderfully crafted short-form fiction -- often sardonic, often surreal, but always pure Solana.” Barry Forshaw, author of Euro Noir
“Teresa Solana’s distinctive writing is humorous yet thought-provoking, and her short fiction is as entertaining as her novels.” Martin Edwards, author of Gallows Court and The Lake District Mysteries
“Solana’s novels are sharp and acerbically funny...the present collection brings together her explorations of the darker side of contemporary Barcelona and her unsettling surrealistic streak.” Paul Preston, author of The Spanish Civil War
"A hugely imaginative collection of (mostly crime) (mostly Barcelona-based) short stories. The ‘Connections’ sequence in particular is terrific." Ian Rankin
"If none of these crime short stories wins a prize this year the judges will have proved they have no sense of humour. To be blunt, I can’t recall a cleverer comic crime story collection – probably because there hasn’t been one.” Russel James, Shots Magazine