The First Prehistoric Serial Killer and other stories

by Teresa Solana

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.

"Teresa Solana's novel, makes you laugh so much the tears soon start to roll.." El Pais

"Solana's excellent debut novel, set in the streets and parlors of Barcelona, offers both probing social commentary and an excellent crime story." Booklist

..".She paints a glorious picture of an urbane and lubricious Hispanic lifestyle as the brothers gumshoe their way through cocktail bars and tapas joints... The portrayal of winter life in Barcelona is lively and the relationship between the two brothers is fascinating..." Times Literary Supplement

"Solana's sparkling debut pokes sharp fun at Catalan politics, society and pretensions. . From their false front of an office and the secretary who exists only as a lingering scent and a bottle of nail varnish, the brothers bumble and stumble to the truth and hopefully to further adventures." Publishers Weekly

"A delightful mystery set in Barcelona. Clever, funny and utterly unpretentious." Sunday Times

"Solana's stylish and witty debut makes entertaining reading, and her two characters, the suave, quick-thinking Borja and anxious, law-abiding Eduard, make a good contrast as they weave their way through an increasingly murky mystery"'

The Telegraph

IAN RANKIN TWEET: This hugely imaginative collection of (mostly crime) (mostly Barcelona-based) short stories comes out in August. The 'Connections' sequence, in particular, is terrific.

The Times: "Teresa Solana, already Barcelona's wittiest satirist, excels herself with The First Prehistoric Serial Killer, a collection of blackly humorous short stories. It's a laugh-out-loud gem of surrealism. The book 's title story explains how the planet's first detective investigated a murder. Eight other linked stories deal with disparate topics, each with a crime slant -- including hating Mozart, being an interpreter at a gathering of gangsters and how to hide dodgy money. Just as you think there cannot be yet another funny twist, Solana comes up with three more, each more outrageous than its predecessor."
Publishers Weekly: "This subtly inventive story collection from Spanish author Solana (The Sound of One Hand Killing) floats effortlessly from whimsy to horror, from exploring the inner life of ghosts to witnessing a murderous gang fight. ...Solana's understated narratives allow the criminality or weirdness to build until the reader is unexpectedly immersed in it. All are well worth reading."
ShotsMag: "If none of these crime short stories wins a prize this year the judges will have proved they have no sense of humour. To be blunt, I can't recall a cleverer comic crime story collection."

Born in Barcelona in 1962, Teresa Solana lives in Oxford. She has written several highly acclaimed novels. 'A Not So Perfect Crime', the first in the Borja and Eduard crime series, won the 2006 Brigada 21 Prize for the best Catalan crime novel. Since then, she has published five more novels. Author of many articles and essays about translation Teresa Solana has also written children's books. Peter Bush is an acclaimed translator from Spanish and Catalan, known for his translations of Leonardo Padura, Juan Goytisolo and Josep Pla.