Diversity,
plausibility and entertainment are just a few of the special characteristics
of Crímenes Contados (Chronicled Crimes), a collection of different crime stories. All
of them have been carefully chosen by Fernando Mart í nez
Laínez, one of he most prolific writers of Spanish genre
noir.
As means of introduction,
the Barcelonan writer takes us through an historical study dedicated
to tracing the story of the private detective throughout the character's
century and a half of existence. Martínez Laínez
uses this analysis to link the mythical American P.I. with those
literary characters who appeared in the middle of the seventies in
Spain, including those created by Manuel Vázquez Montalb án,
Francisco González
Ledesma, Andreu Martín and indeed Martínez Laínez
himself. These characters merely represent the ongoing trend in Spanish
crime fiction to mirror a faraway turn-of-the-century American city
in serious crisis and suffering from a breakdown in moral values.
Following this interpretation,
we discover a collection of thirteen stories which ought to be divided
into several generations. Firstly, there are those by the veterans
of the genre such as the Méndez
adventures by Gonz á lez Ledesma, the dark, unsavoury tales
from Juan de Madrid or perpetually disturbing stories by Andreu Martín.
Completing this handful of stories are some true literary delights,
such as the adventures of Buenaventura Pals by Manuel Quinto or el
comisario Torreccilla (Superintendent Torreccilla) from the pen of
Rafael Reig as well as the endlessly charming novels about Petra
Delicado from the hand of Alicia Giménez Barlett.
Be that as it may, Crímenes
Contados is
principally a collection of well conceived ideas. One of these is
to try to extend the reach of the detective novel, a subgenre, which
seems to be quite unable to go beyond the generalised style in Spain,
despite having taken the lead in the decades following the birth
of the genre of a whole. Moreover, the thirteen stories deserve to
be considered for several interesting reasons and for their common
nature within the genre. Firstly, they are able to offer that final
twist so hoped for by readers of crime-fiction novels. Secondly,
they display great narrative quality and each one of them employs
fierce language. Finally, we must not overlook the style in every
description of night-time and underground scenes, which are so favoured
in this type of literature. It is these features, together with the
equally popular central theme of the criminal and his peruser, that
are so seducing for readers throughout the crime-fiction genre. It
is for all these reasons that we must congratulate the book's compiler
and its publisher, Menoscuarto, on an initiative that we hope they
will soon repeat in a new compilation of chronicled crimes and those
yet to be chronicled.
