I received this book as an ARC from NetGalley.

I almost gave up on this book. It felt sluggish to me and there were a lot of people to keep track of, in my opinion. However, I am glad I did not give up. Antonia Scott is an anomaly - she has a mind that can remember everything - and that is part of her problem. No matter how hard she tries not to, it all comes back. She works for a special team that "does not exist." However, when she experiences a traumatic event, she removes herself from living.

Jon Gutierrez, an inspector from Bilbao, is in a LOT of trouble. After planting evidence that will end his career, she is summoned to help this non-existent team. He is tasked with getting Scott back on the team - they have an urgent case that needs her special set of skills.

The story weaves, back in Scott's life, and forward with an ending that will be worth the read. After logging the read into Goodreads, this shows as book #3 in the series. That may be why I had issues in the beginning, I did not have the backstories.

Red Queen introduces the reader to Antonia Scott, a unique and skilled investigator, who is called on only for the hardest cases - and she is about to be pulled into her most difficult case yet.

I have to admit that I've never read The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo (I actually have it on my shelves but just haven't read it yet). I only bring that up because Antonia is compared to Lisbeth Sanders from that trilogy in the summary, but I can't really speak to that obviously since I haven't yet read those books. What I can say is Antonia was a very interesting main characters. From the beginning, it is easy to see that she has been through something traumatic that she is still struggling with but you aren't sure exactly what. Slowly, as the pages went by and we got to know both her and Jon (the police officer that is trying to work with her), we are shown more about why Antonia is struggling so much and trying to stay out of further investigations. The mystery behind her character, how her mind works, and then the current situation all combined to make a really interesting read. My one qualm was the attitudes towards Jon's sexuality. I'm not sure how to put it besides I didn't think it needed to be there. It felt negative towards him and I'll leave it at that. I would have preferred for his sexuality not to have been portrayed so negatively towards him and his character. I did really appreciate how complex the mystery felt as well as how intricate Antonia's skills were. I'm curious to see what will happen in future books as I believe that this is meant to be a trilogy. So a solid read overall.

Readers who enjoy mysteries and are looking for a unique, dark read should give this book a try. Just with the caveat that Jon being gay wasn't treated well at times.

Thanks to Minotaur books for my copy - honest thoughts are my own.

"Red Queen" by Juan Gómez-Jurado is a gripping thriller that will keep you on the edge of your seat from beginning to end. The novel tells the story of Antonia Scott, a former intelligence agent who is forced out of retirement to help stop a series of kidnappings that have left the nation in a state of panic.

The story is set in Spain and the plot revolves around the hunt for a serial killer who is targeting young women. The killer is known as "The Red Queen" because he leaves a chess piece at each crime scene. Antonia Scott is recruited by the police to help solve the case and she is paired with a young detective named Jon Gutiérrez. The two of them make an unlikely team, but they soon discover that they have a lot in common.

The characters in this book are well-developed and the plot is full of twists and turns. There are plenty of surprises along the way, and the author keeps you guessing until the very end. The story is also very well-written and the pacing is excellent. The tension builds steadily throughout the book and the final showdown is both thrilling and satisfying.

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for sending a digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.

The Red Queen is a haunting mystery with a female protagonist who has been damaged beyond repair. Antonia is coerced into a macabre murder of a wealthy young man whose body is found drained of blood, yet his family seems emotionally remote. Then a kidnapping of a wealthy heiress with ties to the first murder happens. The question becomes how much loyalty is owed to a father and where is love?

Antonia Scott is freakin' smart, so smart she was drafted into the Red Queen program for Spain, as part of a multi national intelligence task force. Can't say much more than thank without spoilers. However she dropped out three years ago, but her talents are needed again. Her counterpart, a compromised police officer, has been blackmailed into it by the promise to keep his job in spite of recent problematic events. Fast-paced, full of action and full of plot twist, Red Queen delivers. In spite of some early confusion on my part with POV shifts, I enjoyed the ride.

I couldn’t put this one down! There was plenty of action and adventure, twists and turns. I will definitely be waiting for the next installment.
Many thanks to St. Martin’s Press and to Netgalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.

I loved the lead character in this book. She is so cool. It made the book and I will buy the sequels as soon as they come out

OK! So this one was entertaining to read! Quite an easy and fast read. I have to say that I loved the humor in the Noir detective/Thriller novel and loved the characters even more.

I did the audiobook and I have to say that once I started listening to it it was very hard to put down. there was something quite addicting about this story and I think it was just the perfect rythm the plot and characters were driven that made me want to know what was happening next.

Thank you Netgalley for a copy of this novel in exchange of an honest review.

This book is the perfect blend of Plot, and there is lots and lots of that, with character development.

I also really love Gómez Jurado‘s writing style. The construction is different, but not so out there that you can’t follow along. It’s just really fresh and really interesting. I was on a ride and I was so happy to be on that ride with these characters.

And be John Gutierrez and Antonia Scott characters are each incredibly fascinating in their own right in together. They are a perfect pairing. I absolutely loved watching their relationship grow.

What an excellent start to a series! This was a solid crime thriller with a kick ass, take no prisoners female main character. The plot was clever and unique. Can’t wait to continue with it.

This book is a murder mystery series that was originally published in Spanish. It features Jon Gutierrez, a friendly and overweight gay cop who was suspended for setting up a career criminal for drug possession. Despite this, Gutierrez still believes that he is a good cop who made a mistake.
One day, Gutierrez is approached by a mysterious man called the Mentor, who offers him help in investigating a murder. The Mentor has an ulterior motive, and wants Gutierrez to convince Antonia Scott, a forensic specialist, to come back to work for him. If Gutierrez can do this, the Mentor promises to make all of Gutierrez's problems disappear.
Gutierrez is intrigued by the opportunity and agrees to help the Mentor. He learns that Scott has a unique ability to solve crimes by finding clues and evidence other investigators often miss. However, the Mentor's organization must remain in the background, not appearing to be involved in any investigation.
Under Gutierrez's protection, Scott solves not one but two related murders, which leads to further adventures for the pair. The book's strength lies in its excellent character development. The author paints a vivid picture of each character, giving readers a glimpse into their innermost thoughts and feelings.
We see Gutierrez's struggles with his suspension and his determination to prove that he is a good cop. We also see Scott's unique talents and her inner conflicts with the Mentor's organization. Furthermore, the Mentor himself remains an enigma throughout the story, adding an extra layer of intrigue.
The story's twists and turns are sure to keep readers entertained, and the unique plot will leave them wanting more. The book is a great read for anyone who enjoys mystery novels. It's a must-read for any mystery lover, and I can't wait to see what happens next in the series.
Overall, this book's combination of excellent character development, intriguing plot and unique twists make it a great read that will keep you on the edge of your seat

As soon as I started reading Juan Gomez-Jurado's Red Queen, I knew this will become one of my favorite new series (or in this case technically a trilogy). It took only one chapter for me to realize why this series found so many fans among European readers. Now I just have to suffer through the wait of the second book getting translated in English. If you enjoy police procedurals and are looking for something slightly different and refreshing, I highly recommend Red Queen.

A murder, a kidnapping and two unlikely and reluctant leads - Jon, a police officer with a penchant of getting himself in trouble and Antonia, a brilliant forensic specialist who has no intention of returning to this line of work.

I absolutely loved the unconventional characters and the premise of Red Queen. I could not get through this book fast enough and short chapters and lots of action definitely helped with that. We get to know the main characters as the story unfolds. There was no slow lead in. The story read like a gripping mind puzzle and I loved working out how it all connects together. The writing style and just the overall vibe of the story were very different than how north American thrillers/crime books read. Second book cannot get into my hands fast enough.

A huge thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

This was quite good at the beginning but for some reason I completely lost interest in it around the halfway point. I don’t know if it was the translation, or the plot itself - I might give it a go in the original language and see if it pulls me in more. But I will definitely come back to this book at some point in the future - just need to be in the right mood for it.

2.5 stars. The beginning of this book really intrigued me but the middle was just ok and the ending was disappointing. Gomez-Jurado writes interesting, fully fleshed out characters but the plot just fell flat for me. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a free copy in exchange for my honest opinion.

I received this book free from the publisher through netgalley. I am leaving this review voluntarily.

This is a fast paced thriller set in Spain with subtle nods to books like the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. However Antonia is not Lisbeth.

Antonia is brilliant but her brilliance was enhanced by the government as part of a special program call the Red Queen. They work under the radar but usually always have a cop with them to help smooth their work along. Jon is a disgraced cop about two minutes from going to prison himself for setting up a pimp when he gets recruited into the Red Queen project to help Antonia get back to work.

I loved the LGBTQ visibility and the true life hassle that Jon has to deal with by his fellow cops for being gay especially since this is set in Spain and machismo culture. Antonia is broken. She loves what she does but it put her husband and child at risk - her husband is currently in a coma and her son living with her father who thinks she is insane.

There is a lot going on in this book and the twisty turny mystery of who abducted the children of the rich and asks the impossible for their safe return was brilliant. I'm going to assume that this is the first in a series since there is set up for a follow up book at the end. It hooked me from the beginning and didn't let me go

Red Queen is the first book in a trilogy, and this book is indeed exciting. It's filled with action and plenty of twists and turns, some of which are interesting and some that don't quite make sense. I do appreciate that the story in this volume is complete. Yet there's plenty of story left to tell.
Antonia Scott—the daughter of a British diplomat and a Spanish mother—has a gifted forensic mind. She's thrown into a case with Jon Gutierrez, a disgraced police officer. Together, the pair attempt to solve a crime via a secretive organization. On the line are the lives of several folks, including loved ones. Can they learn to trust each other as they solve the case or will the criminal/s win?
I really like how Antonia's mind works. But the truth behind her skill is not clear and in fact quite abusive, which bothers me.
Also, the character with autism is portrayed in a negative rather than compassionate way.
The content includes profanity, sexual and other forms of abuse, and violence.

I am always happy to discover a new police procedural with quirky characters. Equally excited to discover a writer I know nothing about. This book was an over-the top, out of the park fascinating psychological roller coaster with great dialog and I loved every page. The eccentricities of the characters and what they get up to are outrageously contemplated, parsed and intersected as they circle the proverbial drain. Of course there is a murder or two or three, of course the killer is there and gone and back again and of course it is down to seconds ….

Everything to gain and nothing to lose by reading this book. Looking forward to the next installment in the series. Thanks to Minotaur Books and NetGalley for a copy.

3.25

I requested this when I was in the middle of a big translated mystery binge, and because it was compared to The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, which I read many years ago and remember enjoying.

This book starts off with a bang. We’re introduced to Antonia Scott and it’s immediately clear that there is something different about her. And then we meet Jon Gutierrez, a jaded police officer with a big heart. I really enjoyed getting to know these two and watching them learn to trust one another. I think their friendship was the biggest strength of the book.

That being said, despite the big intrigue of the first few chapters, I found myself not really caring about the plot. Which isn’t to say I didn’t enjoy it, I just think that for me, the book fell into some familiar tropes that left me underwhelmed. This book does execute well on those tropes and it is compulsively readable, I just think I was expected more.

I am interested in some of the open threads left for the rest of the trilogy and I did really enjoy following Antonia and Jon, so I will be looking for the sequel when it’s translated next year.

Imagine trying to help someone and then being betrayed by the person you were trying to help. That is the case for Jon Guitierrez, a Spanish police officer. While suspended for the good deed Jon is offered the chance to make all of his troubles go away if he just helps out with one little thing. One thing leads to another and Jon finds himself chasing down a murderer with the help of a secret government group and a single secret contact: Mentor. The unlikely duo of Antonio and Jon form a pair that drives the action forward in a (grisly) page-turner that you cannot stop reading until the final page. Red Queen is the start of a series and there are several threads that are left untied. However, most readers won't mind as they will be happy to read further cases of these two partners.

3.5 Intense Stars
If you like to be at the beginning of a new mystery thriller, then the Red Queen by Juan Gómez-Jurado is right up your alley. You have a disgraced police officer who needs to bring a retired marvel in criminal understanding back into the fold to help with solving a case no one can.

By doing this, the two discover more than intended and develop a partnership of sorts that will go beyond the end of this tale.