When I read the earlier novel in Cercas’ Terra Alta series and met detective Melchor Marin for the first time I was pretty underwhelmed. The book seemed to me to be a fairly run-of-the-mill police procedural, which relied heavily on the usual tropes of such genre writing, and as I’d expected more from a literary writer I admire, I decided that I’d had enough of Melchor and his troubles and didn’t want to read any more about him. Then I picked up this book inadvertently and how glad I am I didn’t stick with my previous resolution. In this sequel Cercas has upped his game and presents us with a compelling tale which starts with an apparently regular case – the mayor of Barcelona is being blackmailed over a sex tape from the days of her youth – but becomes progressively darker as events unfold. Melchor has been living (relatively) peacefully in Terra Alta, and considering a change of profession to become a librarian, but can’t resist the lure of being called back to Barcelona to solve the blackmail case. There’s a lot about Catalan politics and the Independence movement, but it’s expertly woven into the narrative and is presented in a way the uninformed reader can understand. It’s soon obvious that much more is involved than a sleazy sex tape, and Melchor is determined to get to the bottom of it. I found the book much more literary and playful than the earlier one, something I enjoy in Cercas’ writing, with various intertextual references, such as Melchor being told that some writer called Javier Cercas has written a book about him called Even the Darkest Night – the actual title of the earlier book – but Melchor repeats that he hasn’t read it and it’s probably all lies. I found the book a well-plotted, nuanced and intelligent police procedural, and one which adds much more to the genre. I got to know and understand Melchor much better and would, this time, be happy to read more about him. A rare occurrence when the sequel is richer than the original.

It's the first book i read by Javier Cercas and when one talks about mystery-Barcelona-politics I cannot help thinking about Vasquez-Montalban and Pepe Carvalho.
i'm happy that it was just my impression because there's a lot of differences and there's a solid mystery featuring an intriguing detective.
Barcelona is a non human character and loved it
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher for this ARC, all opinions are mine

I would like to thank Netgalley and Quercus Books for a review copy of Prey for the Shadow, the second novel to feature Catalonian detective Melchor Marín.

The mayor of Barcelona is being blackmailed to the tune of 300,000€ over a sex tape. The mayor isn’t short of enemies, including her deputy and her ex-husband, and is on the point of capitulating when the police persuade her to let them investigate. Melchor Marín is lured from Terra Alta to help the investigation and what he learns changes his life.

I thoroughly enjoyed Prey for the Shadow, which I wonder at, as it is full of things I don’t always like and yet I found it utterly compulsive reading. This latter I think is a combination of clever plotting and Melchor’s character.

The novel is more literary than my usual fare, so there is commentary on Catalan politics and the power structure of the region, not that different from anywhere else where money talks and pulls the strings. Obviously the discussion is more nuanced than that, but the message is the same. There are in jokes about the previous novel in the series, Even in the Darkest Night, and the author and the inference that reading can change lives, among other topics. None of it interests me, so I concentrated on the story, and it’s a cracker.

Who would have thought that a slim story about blackmail and a sex tape could turn into such a compulsive read? It is obvious from the start that there is more to the story than the mayor is letting on, because in this day and age the release of a sex tape is not a career ending event. The investigation is largely left in Melchor’s hands and he’s a terrier. To add to suspense his narrative is intercut with interviews of an unnamed witness/perpetrator that take place after the events in the investigation. It dangles possibilities and some explanations that become more fruitful as the novel progresses. It is interesting that the author ties this story to Melchor’s own history and quest and even more interesting that how he resolves it is only inferred and never stated.

Melchor is a different kind of policeman. He is a reader and hankers after a job as a librarian as he raises his daughter as a widower. Don’t be fooled, he may seem like a peaceable man, but there is violence and a smart intellect in him.

Prey for the Shadow is a good read that I have no hesitation in recommending.