The Invisible Guardian

The Invisible Guardian
Dolores Redondo

A killer at large in a remote Basque Country valley , a detective to rival Clarice Starling, myth versus reality, masterful storytelling – the Spanish bestseller that has taken Europe by storm.Shortlisted for the CWA International DaggerThe body of a teenage girl has been found on the banks of the River Baztán – the second in a month. Soon rumours are flying in the village of Elizondo. Is this the work of a serial killer, or something even more sinister?Inspector Amaia Salazar leads the investigation, returning to the Basque country where she was born. Shrouded in mist and surrounded by forest, it conceals a terrible secret from Amaia’s childhood that has come back to haunt her.Facing the superstitions of the village, Amaia must fight the demons of her past in order to catch the killer. But what is the dark presence she senses lurking in the shadows?

Copyright (#ulink_55e06341-e8d8-5ca3-97c5-d08bb129cdca)

Harper An imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers

1 London Bridge Street

London SE1 9GF

www.harpercollins.co.uk (http://www.harpercollins.co.uk)

First published by HarperCollinsPublishers 2015

Copyright © Dolores Redondo 2013

Translation copyright © Isabelle Kaufeler 2015

Dolores Redondo asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work.

Originally published in 2013 by Ediciones Destino, Spain, as El guardián invisible

Cover design by Holly Macdonald © HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd 2018

Cover photographs © Shutterstock.com (http://www.shutterstock.com)

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

This is entirely a work of fiction. Any references to real people, living or dead, real events, businesses, organizations and localities are intended only to give the fiction a sense of reality and authenticity. All names, characters and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and their resemblance, if any, to real-life counterparts is entirely coincidental.

All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins.

Source ISBN: 9780007525355

Ebook Edition © APRIL 2015 ISBN: 9780007525348

Version: 2018-03-16

Praise (#ulink_5459759f-5868-5505-b0aa-1c13b3441422)

‘Forceful and brutal. Don’t miss it’

El Periódico

‘Terrifying’

Sydney Morning Herald

‘Utterly compelling’

Publishing Perspectives

‘One of the biggest literary surprises of recent times’

Mía

‘Man vs the bestiality of crime, ancestral legends vs modern investigation techniques, family traumas vs dark beliefs’

L’Express

‘A landscape thriller. And what a landscape it is’

Page des Libraires

‘A novel about the fear of returning to fear’

La Vanguardia

‘Seductive Spanish magical realism … solid and well-forged language, with surprising and impressive elements and formulations. With a richness and variety rare in its genre’

VG, Norway’s biggest newspaper

‘I was very surprised by it, I really loved it. I strongly recommend it’

María Dueñas, author of The Time in Between

‘Dolores Redondo has broken the traditional mould of the publishing industry’

David Morán, ABC

Dedication (#ulink_80af074a-8a3a-5725-b59d-5626a8dbd57d)

For Eduardo, who asked me to write this book, and for Ricard Domingo, who saw it when it was invisible.

For Rubén and Esther, for making me cry with laughter.

‘Forgetting is an involuntary act. The more you want to leave something behind you, the more it follows you.’

William Jonas Barkley

‘This is no ordinary apple; it’s a magic wishing apple.’

Walt Disney’s Snow White

Contents

Cover (#ud695ceb5-e98c-58b0-b57b-3eed074b6f88)