Fascinating short stories that include a rather bloody satire on installation art, including the Edgar Award-nominated story "Still Life No.41", a wonderful story of gruesome revenge involving a wayward son-in-law, a surprising and hilarious tale of a pre-historic serial killer who invents God and psychoanalysis, and, inevitably, a vampire story told with venom and humor.These stories remind one of the best short stories by Stephen King, such as those in the ‘Just after Sunset’ compilation. They can be horrific but are never without a devastating sense of humor. As in the adult short stories of Roald Dahl (the ‘Kiss Kiss’ collection in particular, with its tales of family and other violence) there is great ingenuity, surprising and satisfying endings, and, since it’s Solana, deep cutting satire of contemporary fads and mores.

A prominent politician's wife is suspected of infidelity. The case for our twin private investigators becomes nasty when she is found poisoned. A satire of Catalan politics and life and habits of Barcelona's inhabitants, diurnal and nocturnal.

A writer is murdered at the Ritz on the night she wins an important literary prize, battered to death with the trophy she has just won. A satire of the Catalan literary scene dressed up as a hilarious murder mystery.

An impressive and very funny collection of stories by Teresa Solana but the fun is very dark indeed. The oddest things happen. Statues decompose and stink out galleries, two old grandmothers are vengeful killers, a prehistoric detective on the verge of becoming the first religious charlatan trails a triple murder that is threatening cave life as the early innocents knew it. The collection also includes a sparkling web of Barcelona stories—connected by two criminal acts—that allows Solana to explore the darker side of different parts of the city and their seedier inhabitants.

"Solana's excellent novel, set in the streets and parlors of Barcelona, offers probing social commentary and an excellent crime story."—BooklistTwo detectives, brothers Borja and Eduard, are contracted by best-selling author Teresa Solana to research the world of so-called alternative therapies. They enroll for a course at Zen Moments, an exclusive meditation center in the ritziest part of Barcelona, only to discover the director murdered, whacked in the head with a statuette of the Buddha. The violent death of a neighbor—who happens to be a CIA agent—simultaneously drags them into an international conspiracy complicated by Borja's attempt to smuggle a priceless Assyrian figurine, the Lioness of Baghdad.In this, the third in her satirical series, Catalan "noir" novelist Teresa Solana mercilessly punctures the pretensions of New Age quacks who promote pseudo-science and pseudo-spirituality. At the same time, Solana draws compassionate portraits of characters trying to live "ordinary" lives in circumstances that have ceased to be normal, yet still cope with such everyday issues as adultery, menopause, and simply surviving to the end of the month.Born in 1962, Teresa Solana lives in Barcelona, Spain. She has written several novels, some kept quietly in her drawer, others highly acclaimed. A Not So Perfect Crime, the first in this series, won the 2007 Brigada 21 Prize for the best Catalan mystery novel.Peter Bush is the well known translator of Leonardo Padura and Juan Goytisolo.Review'There's no better way to find your way around both sides of the social Diagonal bisecting Barcelona than by pursuing the criminal habits of those who profiteer from even the most acute of recessions. While the digressions on culinary specialities are worthy of Catalan crime writer Manuel Vázquez Montalbán, those on Hippocrates and the Elamite Empire will delight readers who like their fictional rapids alternated with pools of Zen contemplation.’ Independent'An enjoyable, light-hearted read in which homeopathy gets a skewering along the way. The boys do do some detecting, mostly at the unexpected request of the police, all against the backdrop of Barcelona. THE SOUND OF ONE HAND KILLING deliberately leaves some loose ends to be followed up in another book and I look forward to it.’ EuroCrimeThe Sound of One Hand Killing is Barcelona-based Teresa Solano’s third satirical crime novel to feature her twin brother detectives Borja and Eduard and once again people will be calling her ‘the Queen of Catalan Noir’. If they are not, they should.' Getting Away with MurderAbout the AuthorAuthor: Teresa Solana lives in Barcelona. She was born there in 1962, studied philosophy at the University of Barcelona and worked as a literary translator and essayist. She has written several novels kept quietly in her drawer. The first novel in this series, A Not So Perfect Crime, won the 2007 Brigada 21 Prize for the best crime novel written in Catalan.Translator: Peter Bush is a prize-winning translator from the Spanish and Catalan known for his translations of novels of such authors as Juan Goytisolo, Leonardo Padura and Daniel Chavarria.