Saturday Of Glory

Investigative journalist Raul Santos plummets to his death from his 8th- floor Madrid flat. Did he jump, fall or was he pushed? A second body found in very gruesome circumstances adds to the workload of Superintendent Luis Bernal, who already has to cope with his pious wife and her appalling cooking, a demanding but loving young mistress, the suspicions of his political masters (who turn out to have very political ambitions) and the introduction of Spain's first female detective to his elite squad. Is there a secret police spying on the police? And just who in authority can be trusted? For this is Spain in "The Transition" (1975-1982) the period of national uncertainty between the end of decades of Fascism and the establishment of parliamentary democracy. With Government ministries and agencies concentrating on fighting each other for power in the new state, it soon becomes clear that political plotting takes precedence over mere murder enquiries. And one spectacular plot is about to come to fruition on Easter Saturday (Sabado Santo) at the tomb of the recently deceased General Franco.
Written during the years of "The Transition" by Oxford professor Ian David Lewis Michael under the pen-name David Serafin, this first novel to feature Luis Bernal was an critical success in Britain, America and Spain, where the Bernal books are also being republished. Saturday of Glory won the 1979 Crime Writers' Association's John Creasey Award for best first novel.


Genre: Mystery