Fortress of Evil: The Times Crime Book of the Month

by Javier Cercas, Anne McLean (translator)

Years have passed since Melchor Marín took revenge for his mother's murder and at last found peace.

He left the police force to work as a librarian, and lives with his daughter Cosette, now a teenager. But their contentment is shattered when Cosette discovers that he kept the truth of her mother's death from her - the fact that she was killed to scare him off an investigation.

Confused and disgusted, Cosette takes a holiday in Mallorca, and that is the last Melchor hears of her; his messages and calls go unanswered, and he has no choice but to travel to the island in search of her.

Suddenly it seems the worst aspects of Melchor's past are repeating themselves, and as he grapples with that horror, he experiences the best and the worst that humans are capable of. For while we live surrounded by violence, lies, cowardice, there are also people who will risk everything for a just cause. And Melchor is one of them.

Translated from the Spanish by Anne McLean

PRAISE FOR EVEN THE DARKEST NIGHT - WINNER OF THE CWA DAGGER FOR CRIME FICTION IN TRANSLATION

"A gem of a book, easily the best I've read this year" M W Craven
"A wonderful novel. I look forward to many more Melchor stories" A N Wilson, Tablet
"Promises to be an excellent series" Guardian

362 pages, Kindle Edition

Published April 24, 2025

About the author

Javier Cercas Mena (Ibahernando, provincia de Caceres, 1962) es un escritor y traductor español.

Hijo de un veterinario rural, cuando contaba cuatro años, en 1966 su familia se trasladó a Tarragona, y allí estudió con los jesuitas. Es primo carnal del político Alejandro Cercas. A los quince años la lectura de Jorge Luis Borges le inclinó para siempre a la escritura. En 1985 se licenció en Filología Hispánica en la Universidad Autónoma de Barcelona y más tarde se doctoró. Trabajó durante dos años en la Universidad de Illinois en Urbana; mientras estaba allí se publicó su primera novela, El móvil, y compuso su segunda novela; desde 1989 es profesor de literatura española en la Universidad de Girona. Está casado y tiene un hijo. Se transformó en un autor de masas con su tercera novela, Soldados de Salamina (2001), que fue descubierta por Mario Vargas Llosa en un famoso artículo y mereció los elogios de John Maxwell Coetzee y Susan Sontag. Es colaborador habitual de la edición catalana y del suplemento dominical del diario El País.

Su obra ha sido traducida a más de veinte lenguas. Por su parte él mismo ha traducido a autores catalanes contemporáneos y a H. G. Wells.

Reviews

[Christine]

A good conclusion to the trilogy. I prefer Cercas' other books to the Terra Alta series though, as they provide a fascinating insight into Spanish life, history and the effect of the Spanish civil war on modern day Spain. This is especially interesting for a Brit who knows little about Spain. I've noticed many established good authors want to diversify and write detective stories- I assume it must be a fun process for them after years of writing what may be considered more serious fiction. Think John Banville, Stephanie Merritt..

[Judi Mckay]

What an amazing book. Cercas is fast becoming my favourite writer. The Terra Alta series is divine. You can never see where it’s going to end up. I really wish he would write more in this series. But maybe the ending gave us a clue about what he’ll write about next.
This is not your average thriller/crime story. It’s so relevant to current events.
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