Teresa Solana’s A NOT SO PERFECT CRIME is another translated treat from the fine folks at Bitter Lemon Press. The setting is lovely and warm Barcelona, which just makes you want to hop on a plane and visit once you’re finished reading. The story deals with twin brothers who are now detectives, with their training being reading mysteries as children and watching all the episodes of COLUMBO.
But their case is only secondary, since the novel is equally a social satire. Everything is told through the eyes of Eduard, who explains that after years of being away, his brother Pep has come back under a new persona and name of Borja, a man-on-the-rise in social circles who can be seen wearing only the finest garments and partaking in only fine foods. It’s never explained why Borja has taken on this new identity, but it’s made clear that even though they are brothers, no one is to know, since Borja — for lack of a better term — is a bit of a conniver.
He’s not a con man per se, but someone who works things to his advantage. The case they are hired for is by a local politician named Font, who has made the discovery that his wife has posed for a painting by some artist without his knowledge. Font feels that this will be a disaster for him politically. He wants these two to find out if she is having an affair with the artist.
He hires them since they have dealt with other “dirty laundry” with utter discretion, especially since they have no license to actually act as detectives or even any real clue as to what they are doing. But as soon as they figure out this case by just chance, another blow comes down the pike: Font’s wife turns up dead, having been poisoned, with all clues pointing to her as a blackmailer.
This book is a fun entertaining ride through the Spanish social circle, with plenty of satire thrown into the mix. Since I’m not familiar with the social hierarchy of Spain, some of it is lost on me. But don’t let that dissuade you from grabbing the novel. It’s still a fun little mystery and shows some true promise from Solana, especially with how well the secrets are kept throughout. The plot is so well-crafted that you won’t feel cheated once everything is said and done. Even when the culprit confesses, things are buried deep so as not to bring shame to others. Add this to the ever-growing pile of terrific reads that have come off the Bitter Lemon Press tree. —Bruce Grossman
