A little more menace would be welcome, but Aly Monroe knows her Spain and wears her learning lightly. Her writing is skilful and evocative, with hints of Alan Furst. Wartime Cadiz itself is brilliantly drawn: the creaking social formalities of the war-weary Spanish bourgeoisie; the heavy silence of the fascist-era siesta and the endless shabby grind of the dictatorship. And overlaying everything, the heat and dust of a late Spanish summer. “The Maze of Cadiz” is a stylish and impressive debut. Peter Cotton will be back; this is just the first in a planned series.
The Maze of Cadiz.By Aly Monroe. John Murray; 294 pages; £16.99
© The Economist Newspaper Limited 2008
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