Black Storms by Teresa Solana BLOG TOUR #BlackStorms @TeresaSolana1 @CorylusB t. #PeterBush #TranslatedFiction #BookReview

 

A country that doesn't acknowledge its past is destined to repeat its mistakes.

Why murder a sick old man nearing retirement? An investigation into the death of a professor at the University of Barcelona seems particularly baffling for Deputy Inspector Norma Forester of the Catalan police, as word from the top confirms she's the one to lead this case.

The granddaughter of an English member of the International Brigades, Norma has a colourful family life, with a forensic doctor husband, a hippy mother, a squatter daughter and an aunt, a nun in an enclosed order, who operates as a hacker from her austere convent cell.

This blended family sometimes helps and often hinders Norma's investigations.

It seems the spectres of the past have not yet been laid to rest, and there are people who can neither forgive nor forget the cruelties of the Spanish Civil War and all that followed.

Black Storms by Teresa Solana was published on 25 October 2024 by Corylus Books. It is translated by Peter Bush. My thanks to the publisher who sent my copy for review as part of this Blog Tour.

Before I start talking about the actual writing and plot of this book, please take a moment to look at the amazing cover. The cover design is by Cade Roach and it is absolutely amazing. I could look at it for hours, it is so in-depth and totally fits with the story line. A real genius cover. 

Black Storms is not a long book, my paperback copy is just over 230 pages in length, yet it is a cleverly complex tale of murder and intrigue set in the stunning city of Barcelona. Solana begins the novel with an intriguing, mysterious chapter that introduces the reader to a murderer. Known at the beginning as 'the man who was about to commit murder', this is wonderfully written and sets the scene for the whole novel. 

We are introduced to Deputy Inspector Norma Forester of the Catalan police. This is a woman who carries a lot of baggage along with her. There is almost as much about Norma and her wide and eclectic family as there is about the case, and it's incredibly well told. Each of the characters (and there are a lot of them) have their own distinctive traits, they are an unusual extended, blended family who often drive Norma to despair, but are always loyal and supportive. 

As Norma begins to investigate the murder of a professor from the University of Barcelona, she draws many blanks. There seems to be no motive, the professor was elderly and ill and had no known enemies. The murderer has left no clues, it's most certainly a puzzle. It is only when Norma discovers that an old friend of the professor was also recently murdered that she begins to look deeper into how the two cases may be connected. The first case appeared to be a case of a robbery gone wrong, the man was brutally stabbed, the circumstances are nothing like the professors's case. However, Norma is still convinced that there is a link. 

This is fine crime fiction, with twists and turns to keep the reader engaged throughout and the added bonus of learning more about Norma and her family. There's some humour that lessens the darkness of the plot, and adds another dimension to the story. 

Clever and multi layered. Black Storms is a great crime novel that incorporates some recent history in a setting that is brought to life wonderfully. Recommended. 

Teresa Solana’s fiction is solidly rooted in Catalonia, which forms the atmospheric backdrop to the stories that have made her one of Spain’s best-known writers of crime fiction.

Her a distinctive style blends humour, satire and thought-provoking social issue.

Her new series features Deputy Inspector Norma Forester – and both her colourful family life and her background as the granddaughter of an English member of the International Brigades.

Several of Teresa’s novels have been translated into English, and she was highly commended for a CWA dagger for a story in her collection The First Prehistoric Serial Killer.

Teresa Solana has won several national and international awards, including the Crims de Tinta for Black Storms.

X @TeresaSolana1

Peter Bush is an award-winning translator from Catalan, French, Spanish and
Portuguese to English.

He's a former Professor of Literary Translation at the University of East Anglia, and director of the British Centre for Literary Translation.