Neighbourhood detectives
Dos y dos son cinco*
Laura Malasaña
Editions Barataria, 2007, 309 pages
Javier Sánchez Zapatero
Translation: Helen O'Sullivan
Dos
y dos son cinco,
the debut from the Catalan writer and journalist Laura Malasaña,
includes three short stories starring Manuel Molina. Tired of the
same old routine of working in a factory, Molina decides to completely
turn his life around and, aided by a distance learning course and
meticulously reading How
to be a first-rate PI, he becomes a private detective. Despite
his family's lack of enthusiasm on hearing about his change in profession,
Molina manages to to open an office and even hire a secretary, Elena,
who, being completely calm and with plenty of common sense, turns
out to be the perfect counterbalance for the impulsiveness that guides
Molina's actions. The interaction between these two characters is,
in fact, one of the greatest assets of the stories, which show a
constant conflict between, on one hand, a feeling of excitement and
naïve dreaminess that seem to surround Molina, and, on the other,
the analytical coldness that his secretary applies. Molina's Quijotesque
view of the world – carried across by his narrative role and the
way in which events are filtered through him to the reader – prompts
several hilarious moments in the stories, as well as accentuating
his anti-heroic character, graphically made clear in the first part
of the compilation. Far from the pure mould of the classic detective
novels of the genre and the serious nature of the cases investigated
in such works, in El misterioso caso del asesino de perros (The
mysterious case of the murder of the dogs), Molina, while dressed
in a blue tracksuit, is hired to track down the culprit who has killed
local elderly ladies' pet dogs.
The stories that make up Laura Malasaña's work are both tremendously
lively and written with such rhythm and pleasantness that is is hard
not to read them in one fell swoop. Collectively they stand out due
to their authentic local tone – at times bordering on the esperpento – that
the author uses to recreate daily life in the neighbourhood. Both
ironic and critical, the stories starring Molina and those around
him act as a link between the reader and the extraordinary atmosphere
of reality-charges suburbia. Thus, our protagonist finds himself
in Tarrasa: “a crumbling exhibition of factories which once gave
meaning to the town, but then left it full of job seekers and cleaning
ladies”. In this setting Molina worriedly contemplates how great
things and and his long-dreamed-of heroic life of setting up a detective
agency never came to fruition, and how he now has to take on cases
concerning dog killings, the disappearance of wine bottle and the
theft of video tapes. The apparent modesty of the cases he has to
investigate is counteracted by the fact that, as Molina proudly declares
as often as possible, they could be “straight off the tele”. This
also helps him to demonstrate to his wife, Conchi, that giving up
his safe job in the factory for the unknown, dream-fulfilling job
of a private detective was not such a ludicrous idea as she thought.
In fact, in the third of the short stories – El misterioso caso
del famoso impertinente (The mysterious case of the brash celebrity) – it
is precisely his wife who is more excited about Molina taking on
the case. Despite being right in the middle of his family holidays
on the coast of Almería, Molina has to solve the disappearance
of a video tape of two celebrities together on the beach, shot by
paparazzi.
Pleasant and entertaining, Dos
y dos son cinco highlights
the writing ability of its author, and hopefully we will shortly
see more of her work in bookshops. Her refreshing style, use of irony
and story-telling ability make Laura Malasaña one of the most
important names among the new generation of Spanish authors.
* Two plus two is five
