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#1 INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER - The riveting second novel in the acclaimed Spanish writer's detective trilogy.
"There is no one writing in English like this. . . . Powerful stuff." --The Sunday Times (London)

The mayor of Barcelona is being blackmailed with a sex tape from her student days that she never knew existed. The price: 300,000 euros and her immediate resignation.

A political chameleon who swept to power on a populist wave, the mayor has powerful enemies. She cannot even trust those closest to her; both her ex-husband and her deputy would profit from her fall.

Melchor Marín, living a quiet life in Terra Alta, is tempted back to Barcelona to work the investigation. But what on the surface seems a straightforward case has its roots in far more serious and disturbing crimes.

With the mayor on the verge of capitulation, a shocking revelation changes everything--not least the course of Melchor's life. At long last, his heart's dark desire is in his grasp.