“The hostilities are never over in the mournful mysteries that Rebecca Pawel sets in the devastated cities of Spain in the aftermath of the civil war . . . Pawel frames the complex ethical issues she raises in the divided loyalties of her series hero . . . and his wife, Elena, whose sympathies are entirely with the Republican cause. Until the family wounds are healed, Pawel argues, the war will never end.”
—The New York Times Book Review

“Part history lesson, part whodunit, this story is rich in landscape and political detail.”
—Mystery Scene

“The Edgar-winning author tells her story in spare prose, befitting the bleakness of the political and physical landscape . . . The richness of historical detail and the loving but uneasy relationship between Tejada and Elena offer their own rewards to the reader.”
—The Denver Post

“Pawel—winner of an Edgar for the series debut, Death of a Nationalist—has managed to capture the Spanish Civil War period in thrilling detail . . . Her writing is thoughtful for thoughtful readers. Her understanding of the times of which she writes, the fractured loyalties and seething vengeances, is eclipsed only be her insights into the human heart.”
—The Plain Dealer

“A fabulous historical whodunit.”
—Midwest Book Review

“Equal parts history lesson and crime novel, displaying both offhand cruelty and welcome depth.”
—Kirkus Reviews