cover image Village of the Lost Girls

Village of the Lost Girls

Agustín Martínez, trans. from the Spanish by Frank Wynne. Mobius, $26.99 (496p) ISBN 978-1-78648-843-5

The disappearance of two 11-year-old girls, Ana and Lucía, on their way home from school drives screenwriter Martínez’s competent if overlong debut, a crime novel set in the village of Monteperdido, a popular tourist spot in the Spanish Pyrenees. Five years after disappearing, Ana turns up semiconscious near a wrecked car at the bottom of a ravine. The vehicle’s driver is dead. At the hospital where the girl is taken, Ana refuses to provide any information about her abduction or the intervening years to Sara Campos, of the Policía Nacional, who has come from Madrid to lead the investigation. Was the driver of the car Ana’s kidnapper, and what has happened to Lucía? In her search for answers, Campos interviews many of the residents of Monteperdido and the surrounding area, who all have extensive backstories. “Everyone, it seemed, was hiding a secret behind a facade of normality.” Motives and opportunities blur as Campos lumbers toward a finale that offers some surprises. Readers will hope for less unnecessary exposition next time. Agent: Mireia Acosta, Masficcion (Spain). (Sept.)