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Seymour of Special Branch #5
A Dead Man in Barcelona
Praise for the Dead Man
“Picking up a new book by Michael Pearce reminds you why people enjoy reading mysteries.”— Denver Post
“The steady pace, atmospheric design, and detailed description re-create a complicated city. A recommended historical series.”— Library Journal
“Sheer fun.”— The Times (London)
“An unfailingly amusing historical series.”— Booklist
“Pearce again demonstrates his skill at making the past come alive and at seamlessly weaving actual political intrigues into his plot.”— Publishers Weekly
Barcelona, 1912—a city still recovering from the dramatic incidents of the so-called “Tragic Week” when Catalonian conscripts bound for the unpopular war in Spanish Morocco had rebelled at the city’s dockside against the royalist forces. In the fighting, many were killed, and afterward, even more imprisoned, including an Englishman, who was later found dead in his cell.
The dead man had been a prominent businessman in Gibraltar, so what was he doing in Barcelona? And how did he really meet his end—murdered, in a prison cell? The case, in Gibraltar’s view, cries out for investigation—and by someone independent of the Spanish authorities. So Scotland Yard dispatches Seymour of the Special Branch.
Michael Pearce was raised in Anglo-Egyptian Sudan. He trained as a Russian interpreter but later moved to an academic career, first as a lecturer in English and the History of Ideas and then as an administrator. Pearce now lives in southwest London and is best known as the author of the award-winning Mamur Zapt books.
“Picking up a new book by Michael Pearce reminds you why people enjoy reading mysteries.”— Denver Post
“The steady pace, atmospheric design, and detailed description re-create a complicated city. A recommended historical series.”— Library Journal
“Sheer fun.”— The Times (London)
“An unfailingly amusing historical series.”— Booklist
“Pearce again demonstrates his skill at making the past come alive and at seamlessly weaving actual political intrigues into his plot.”— Publishers Weekly
Barcelona, 1912—a city still recovering from the dramatic incidents of the so-called “Tragic Week” when Catalonian conscripts bound for the unpopular war in Spanish Morocco had rebelled at the city’s dockside against the royalist forces. In the fighting, many were killed, and afterward, even more imprisoned, including an Englishman, who was later found dead in his cell.
The dead man had been a prominent businessman in Gibraltar, so what was he doing in Barcelona? And how did he really meet his end—murdered, in a prison cell? The case, in Gibraltar’s view, cries out for investigation—and by someone independent of the Spanish authorities. So Scotland Yard dispatches Seymour of the Special Branch.
Michael Pearce was raised in Anglo-Egyptian Sudan. He trained as a Russian interpreter but later moved to an academic career, first as a lecturer in English and the History of Ideas and then as an administrator. Pearce now lives in southwest London and is best known as the author of the award-winning Mamur Zapt books.
256 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2008
1 person is currently reading
79 people want to read
About the author
Michael Pearce
52 books53 followersMichael Pearce grew up in the (then) Anglo-Egyptian Sudan. He returned there later to teach, and retains a human rights interest in the area. He retired from his academic post to write full time.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 33 reviews
April 19, 2019
An English national had died in a Spanish prison
Seymour from the Special Police is sent out to investigate where he meets Chantale, his Moroccan/French girlfriend
Tragic Week
The coffins came out of the church…’
‘Yes?’
‘And the men put them down on the ground…’
‘Yes?’
‘And then — then the lids opened and the bodies got out.’
There was a short silence.
‘Got out?’
‘That’s right.’
‘The bodies?’
‘Yes. There were three of them. Look, I know it’s hard to believe—’
‘It certainly is,’ said the Deputy Commissioner.
‘It gave me a shock, I can tell you.’
‘Well, it would. I can see that.’
‘You obviously don’t believe me,’ said Hattersley.
‘No, no, of course I believe you,’ said the Deputy Commissioner heartily, looking at the clock.
‘One of them was a young woman.’
Yes, thought Seymour, sex probably went with it, poor chap.
The Deputy Commissioner looked at him sharply and frowned. Surely he had not said that out loud?
‘Three of them, did you say?’ he said hastily, hoping to cover up.
‘Yes. Of course, they weren’t really dead.’
‘No, no. Of course. No, they wouldn’t be.’
‘I spoke to one of them. The young woman. And she said it was to remember those fallen in Semana Tragica.’
‘Semana Tragica?’ said Seymour, waking up. ‘Tragic Week?’
‘And then she said, “You’re English, aren’t you?” “From Gibraltar,” I said. “Ah, then you’ll have known Sam Lockhart?” “I know Sam Lockhart, yes.” “And do you know how he died?” she said. “Yes. No, that is, at least, not exactly.”
“‘Well, you ought to find out,” she said. “Tell your English friends that. Tell the English people.” And then she went back into the church.’
Choices for Chantale
Chantale was half Arab, half French. This had been awkward for her in Morocco because she had been neither fish nor fowl. The French had eyed her askance, conscious all the time of what some of them referred to as the touch of the tar-brush. The Arabs had mistrusted her because they had never known to which side she would fall when the chips were down.
Chantale herself had not been sure, either; which was why she had been tempted by Seymour’s argument, at the end of a previous mission in Tangier, that the thing to do was put both sides behind her and become something else: British, for instance. With him.
Investigations
‘Ever since I have been here,’ said Seymour, ‘people have been pushing me to take sides. That is the explanation, they said, the explanation for Lockhart’s death, the explanation for everything. Catalans, Arabs, anarchists — even the Spanish. They all invited me to take sides and often that is an explanation. But I don’t believe that it is.’
The interplay of conversations with everyone is quick and full of powerful meanings. Savour the different characters as they react to the tragedy of the death of Lockhart
Enjoy!
Seymour from the Special Police is sent out to investigate where he meets Chantale, his Moroccan/French girlfriend
Tragic Week
The coffins came out of the church…’
‘Yes?’
‘And the men put them down on the ground…’
‘Yes?’
‘And then — then the lids opened and the bodies got out.’
There was a short silence.
‘Got out?’
‘That’s right.’
‘The bodies?’
‘Yes. There were three of them. Look, I know it’s hard to believe—’
‘It certainly is,’ said the Deputy Commissioner.
‘It gave me a shock, I can tell you.’
‘Well, it would. I can see that.’
‘You obviously don’t believe me,’ said Hattersley.
‘No, no, of course I believe you,’ said the Deputy Commissioner heartily, looking at the clock.
‘One of them was a young woman.’
Yes, thought Seymour, sex probably went with it, poor chap.
The Deputy Commissioner looked at him sharply and frowned. Surely he had not said that out loud?
‘Three of them, did you say?’ he said hastily, hoping to cover up.
‘Yes. Of course, they weren’t really dead.’
‘No, no. Of course. No, they wouldn’t be.’
‘I spoke to one of them. The young woman. And she said it was to remember those fallen in Semana Tragica.’
‘Semana Tragica?’ said Seymour, waking up. ‘Tragic Week?’
‘And then she said, “You’re English, aren’t you?” “From Gibraltar,” I said. “Ah, then you’ll have known Sam Lockhart?” “I know Sam Lockhart, yes.” “And do you know how he died?” she said. “Yes. No, that is, at least, not exactly.”
“‘Well, you ought to find out,” she said. “Tell your English friends that. Tell the English people.” And then she went back into the church.’
Choices for Chantale
Chantale was half Arab, half French. This had been awkward for her in Morocco because she had been neither fish nor fowl. The French had eyed her askance, conscious all the time of what some of them referred to as the touch of the tar-brush. The Arabs had mistrusted her because they had never known to which side she would fall when the chips were down.
Chantale herself had not been sure, either; which was why she had been tempted by Seymour’s argument, at the end of a previous mission in Tangier, that the thing to do was put both sides behind her and become something else: British, for instance. With him.
Investigations
‘Ever since I have been here,’ said Seymour, ‘people have been pushing me to take sides. That is the explanation, they said, the explanation for Lockhart’s death, the explanation for everything. Catalans, Arabs, anarchists — even the Spanish. They all invited me to take sides and often that is an explanation. But I don’t believe that it is.’
The interplay of conversations with everyone is quick and full of powerful meanings. Savour the different characters as they react to the tragedy of the death of Lockhart
Enjoy!
August 11, 2009
The premise of this book is promising: a British investigator is sent to Barcelona in 1912 to probe the death of a fellow-countryman who has been a go-between in procuring the Royal Navy precious oil reserves as it transforms its fleet from coal to oil power.
The city is seething. Two years before in "Tragic Week" the Spanish authorities violently crushed a Catalan uprising. The city is also a major stronghold for anarchists while Arab immigrants pursue their own lives in its shadows. The murdered Brit was caught up in all of these separate groups.
Despite the juicy set-up, I have to report the book is a major disappointment. There is no period detail in this book, no sense of being transported back to 1912. The city does not come to life, in fact the only location regularly evoked is the pedestrian street, Las Ramblas. We don't see how people dress or live; we don't smell the city which at the time was in the midst of a major economic boom that gave birth to its unique architecture (this is just the time when Gaudi was active).
The other location the author uses is Gibraltar but here there is even less detail -- no rock, no descriptions at all.
Worse, the characters, whether they be Spanish or Catalan or Arab, all come across as terribly proper Englishmen and women. The main character is in the midst of a passionate affair with an exotic woman from Tangiers. It has all the passion of a cucumber sandwich. They don't kiss, or hug, or speak to one another, or profess love or do anything at all.
The author has also a weird way of handling dialogue. He has characters recount page after page of conversations they had with other people verbatim. At other times, characters manage to overhear long passages of incriminating dialogue.
There is a solution to the murder but by the end one scarcely cares because nothing seems to be at stake.
I was expecting something rich and pungent. Instead I got weak tea.
The city is seething. Two years before in "Tragic Week" the Spanish authorities violently crushed a Catalan uprising. The city is also a major stronghold for anarchists while Arab immigrants pursue their own lives in its shadows. The murdered Brit was caught up in all of these separate groups.
Despite the juicy set-up, I have to report the book is a major disappointment. There is no period detail in this book, no sense of being transported back to 1912. The city does not come to life, in fact the only location regularly evoked is the pedestrian street, Las Ramblas. We don't see how people dress or live; we don't smell the city which at the time was in the midst of a major economic boom that gave birth to its unique architecture (this is just the time when Gaudi was active).
The other location the author uses is Gibraltar but here there is even less detail -- no rock, no descriptions at all.
Worse, the characters, whether they be Spanish or Catalan or Arab, all come across as terribly proper Englishmen and women. The main character is in the midst of a passionate affair with an exotic woman from Tangiers. It has all the passion of a cucumber sandwich. They don't kiss, or hug, or speak to one another, or profess love or do anything at all.
The author has also a weird way of handling dialogue. He has characters recount page after page of conversations they had with other people verbatim. At other times, characters manage to overhear long passages of incriminating dialogue.
There is a solution to the murder but by the end one scarcely cares because nothing seems to be at stake.
I was expecting something rich and pungent. Instead I got weak tea.
June 2, 2013
Meandering through the shelves...I was attracted by the title's geographic reference. I began with #5 in the series and intend to read all of Seymour's criminal investigations, It is helpful to have some background or a willingness to do a quick Wiki search as to tensions between Barcelona and the Spanish government as well as the tensions between Spain and Morocco...and throw in Gibraltar as the Brits also play a role. Many of these early 20th Century problems remain the same today...immigration issues, Nationalists vs Anarchists, economic disparity... and the need for oil. Not a case of history repeating itself but rather history unresolved. This book is very well done!
April 14, 2013
This is my 2nd stab at the adventures of travelling detective Seymour. While far from your typical mystery novel, its twisting plot and array of colourful characters made it a worthwhile read.
This story is set in a critical time; just prior to WW1 and 2 years after the unfortuante events of Barcelona's Tragic Week in the summer of 1911. Our 'Dead Man', a Senior Lockhart, seems to have a layered and complex past from both his business dealings and relationship to his many lady friends. The circumstances of his death leave a long list of possible motives and suspects. Seymour, with the help of Chantelle, his love interest from his last trip to Tangier, patiently work to decipher this tangled web while also avoiding setting off futher tensions between the Spanish officials, the native Catalonians, the local Arabs, the nearby British Naval base in Gilbrator and finally the illusive anarchists.
These novels, depite their exotic Mediterranean settings, are less about travel and more about the politics and cultural tensions of the day. The dialogue are often convoluted conversations that can be tricky to follow, especially when they are verbatim renditions of words from the past. However, if you think of most of the story as a play, it offers some light comedy that makes getting to solution a much more enjoyable journey.
This story is set in a critical time; just prior to WW1 and 2 years after the unfortuante events of Barcelona's Tragic Week in the summer of 1911. Our 'Dead Man', a Senior Lockhart, seems to have a layered and complex past from both his business dealings and relationship to his many lady friends. The circumstances of his death leave a long list of possible motives and suspects. Seymour, with the help of Chantelle, his love interest from his last trip to Tangier, patiently work to decipher this tangled web while also avoiding setting off futher tensions between the Spanish officials, the native Catalonians, the local Arabs, the nearby British Naval base in Gilbrator and finally the illusive anarchists.
These novels, depite their exotic Mediterranean settings, are less about travel and more about the politics and cultural tensions of the day. The dialogue are often convoluted conversations that can be tricky to follow, especially when they are verbatim renditions of words from the past. However, if you think of most of the story as a play, it offers some light comedy that makes getting to solution a much more enjoyable journey.
January 10, 2009
Scotland Yard doesn't want to send ace linguist Seymour to Spain, but when an admiral and the Foreign Office both demand his presence, what can they do? An Englishman named Lockhart was killed in a Spanish prison in 1910, and now, two years later, it's time for someone to find out what happened. Seymour is just as happy to be visiting Spain, as he wants to marry Chantale, who lives with her Arab mother in Tangiers. Chantale joins him as they shuttle between Barcelona, where Lockhart died, and Gibraltar, where his wife lives, as Seymour weaves his way through the tangled politics of Spanish, Catalonian and Arab interests to find who poisoned a man that all claim to esteem. Part of a series.
June 29, 2012
Book group selected this author. I selected this book because of the local. Set in 1912 but could have been today. An English businessman is murdered and Scotland Yard sends out Seymore to investigate. What i learned about Barcelona... a boiling mix of Spanish, Catalan, and Arab. Lots of smuggling, bribery, culture clash and adultery. A little difficult to read with many characters. I had heard the author wrote with humor, but except for one couple I didn't see it.
February 21, 2009
In this version, he is in Barcelona to investigate an Englishman's death. He is married to an Arab lady, has affairs with many people,has Catalan friends, and sympathazies with the Catalan movemet.
This really widens the choices of people whom could be connected with the death.
This really widens the choices of people whom could be connected with the death.
July 12, 2013
One of the most complicated of the Seymour series, this was fun and intriguing and promising until about halfway through when it just got too convoluted to really enjoy--Tangier is still my FAVE! But I do love the expat story at the heart of each of these A Dead Man in... books.
July 20, 2013
A close sequel to the previous episode in Tangier, these 2 books are a terrific pair. As always, the focus is on the political and cultural unrest in the countries surrounding the Mediterranean in the years leading up to WWI.
August 9, 2018
Interesting that this book is set in 1916, when some of the issues are very current. I enjoyed traveling through Barcelona in this book, and the atmosphere. This author takes things at a slow pace, but after many twists and turns, the truth is revealed.
May 13, 2009
I picked this up because of the setting, but found it to be an enjoyable mystery and a fairly quick read. The atmosphere of early 20th century Barcelona made for a wonderful setting.
December 16, 2013
Interesting series. I had never heard of Tragic Week (Catalonia. Spain was certainly a 20th Century bellweather for wars.
May 24, 2014
Michael Pearce's style is growing on me. This story was particularly well done.
April 1, 2015
A lot of local color, and good history in this mystery series.
June 8, 2016
This book was a disappointment. I didn't care about the deceased or his relatives. The detective seemed contrived and my only hope for the book, the scenes of Barcelona, were few and far between.
March 17, 2017
Very complicated.The solution relies very much on logic & not emotion.
December 19, 2020
A Dead Man in Barcelona by Michael Pearce is the 5th book of the Seymour of Special Branch mystery series, set in 1912 Barcelona. Seymour is a policeman in London's East End. He's fluent in many languages, due to his own immigrant forebears, living and working in the multicultural East End, and natural talent. His unassuming manner makes him ideal for Scotland Yard to send on discreet investigations in foreign countries.
Englishman Sam Lockhart died in prison, just days after Tragic Week in Barcelona. Scottish businessman Hattersley from Gibraltar requests that British authorities investigate Lockhart's death. Seymour is eager to go on assignment to Barcelona, for its proximity to Morocco. His fiancée Chantale lives "just across the Straits".
As in previous series books, Seymour faces plenty of stonewalling when he begins his investigation. Police Chief Alonzo claims the case is still under investigation. By persistent questioning, and following up cryptic hints, Seymour finds many avenues to investigate: Lockhart's involvement in Tragic Week, his daughter, his relationship with local fishermen, smuggling, his widow, her brother, and of course, how he died in prison.
Seymour's investigation is a s-l-o-w process. Each group of people he encounters in Barcelona (Catalans, Arabs, smugglers, fishermen, police, anarchists) has closely guarded secrets and suspicion of other groups. Discovering how Lockhart interacted with each group requires a great deal of patience and tact on Seymour's part. In fact, it requires patience on the part of the reader, too; best to read the story in small sessions. Seymour expresses his frustration late in the case: "What I have found since I have been here is that people are very ready to offer you premises but less ready to consider other possibilities."
To his great joy, Chantale joins Seymour in Barcelona. They enjoy strolling together of an evening in Las Ramblas, a flower-draped avenue with a carnival atmosphere. Among the street performers are cabezudos: "huge figures sometimes on stilts with grotesquely large papier-mache heads". The cabezudos are eager to assist Seymour, covertly providing brief cryptic hints.
Seymour is intrigued by a Barcelona phenomenon: "the crocodiles. Of children. They were everywhere. Little, disciplined processions, usually with a man in a long black cassock at the head of them, with, perhaps, another man in an ill-fitting dark suit following behind."
A prominent theme in the story is the strength of family and cultural ties, and difficulty of adjusting to the different conventions when moving to a different country. This adds suspense to the tentative nature of Seymour's and Chantale's future. When Seymour travels to Gibraltar to interview Lockhart's widow, he revels in the warmth and light, freshness and openness of the sea. Its contrast to the constricted, choking darkness of London's dockland makes him doubt the fairness of asking Chantale to be his wife in England. In private moments she considers asking Seymour to live in Tangier after their marriage, but discards the idea due to his career.
Feisty Constanza, wife of spineless Chief of Police Alonzo, is a delightful strong-willed woman with ambition. Too bad she has a minor role in the mystery.
Unlike in previous books, we learn Seymour's private opinion: "...Seymour had heard of Churchill; and privately thought him a trigger-happy Boy Scout with an ego larger than one of the Admiral's battleships, a man who, if there was not a war already going on, was just the person to start one."
Reporting resolution of the case to Hattersley, Seymour sums up: "The difficult thing for me was to distance myself from everyone's suggestions. Everybody thought they knew the answer and was eager to give it to me. Before they had asked the questions."
Englishman Sam Lockhart died in prison, just days after Tragic Week in Barcelona. Scottish businessman Hattersley from Gibraltar requests that British authorities investigate Lockhart's death. Seymour is eager to go on assignment to Barcelona, for its proximity to Morocco. His fiancée Chantale lives "just across the Straits".
As in previous series books, Seymour faces plenty of stonewalling when he begins his investigation. Police Chief Alonzo claims the case is still under investigation. By persistent questioning, and following up cryptic hints, Seymour finds many avenues to investigate: Lockhart's involvement in Tragic Week, his daughter, his relationship with local fishermen, smuggling, his widow, her brother, and of course, how he died in prison.
Seymour's investigation is a s-l-o-w process. Each group of people he encounters in Barcelona (Catalans, Arabs, smugglers, fishermen, police, anarchists) has closely guarded secrets and suspicion of other groups. Discovering how Lockhart interacted with each group requires a great deal of patience and tact on Seymour's part. In fact, it requires patience on the part of the reader, too; best to read the story in small sessions. Seymour expresses his frustration late in the case: "What I have found since I have been here is that people are very ready to offer you premises but less ready to consider other possibilities."
To his great joy, Chantale joins Seymour in Barcelona. They enjoy strolling together of an evening in Las Ramblas, a flower-draped avenue with a carnival atmosphere. Among the street performers are cabezudos: "huge figures sometimes on stilts with grotesquely large papier-mache heads". The cabezudos are eager to assist Seymour, covertly providing brief cryptic hints.
Seymour is intrigued by a Barcelona phenomenon: "the crocodiles. Of children. They were everywhere. Little, disciplined processions, usually with a man in a long black cassock at the head of them, with, perhaps, another man in an ill-fitting dark suit following behind."
A prominent theme in the story is the strength of family and cultural ties, and difficulty of adjusting to the different conventions when moving to a different country. This adds suspense to the tentative nature of Seymour's and Chantale's future. When Seymour travels to Gibraltar to interview Lockhart's widow, he revels in the warmth and light, freshness and openness of the sea. Its contrast to the constricted, choking darkness of London's dockland makes him doubt the fairness of asking Chantale to be his wife in England. In private moments she considers asking Seymour to live in Tangier after their marriage, but discards the idea due to his career.
Feisty Constanza, wife of spineless Chief of Police Alonzo, is a delightful strong-willed woman with ambition. Too bad she has a minor role in the mystery.
Unlike in previous books, we learn Seymour's private opinion: "...Seymour had heard of Churchill; and privately thought him a trigger-happy Boy Scout with an ego larger than one of the Admiral's battleships, a man who, if there was not a war already going on, was just the person to start one."
Reporting resolution of the case to Hattersley, Seymour sums up: "The difficult thing for me was to distance myself from everyone's suggestions. Everybody thought they knew the answer and was eager to give it to me. Before they had asked the questions."
July 1, 2020
More than anything these books capture a sense of time and place and the mish mash of cultures in the City in the early 1900s. In this episode of Seymour of Special Branch he investigates a death of an Englishman (actually a Scot!!) named Lockhart in Barcelona during the tragic week in 19o9 when Catalonian conscripts and workers rioted about forced involvement in Spanish wars against Morocco. Mostly through dialogue with those involved, Seymour investigates three years later. It isn't by any means a great mystery or puzzle but the entertainment is in the unfolding story of political activist, benefactor, smuggler, wheeler /dealer and womaniser, Lockhart. The motivations to conceal Lockhart's activities and the sub plot related to the trading of Admiralty stores from Gibraltar all help give colour and bring humour to the tale. For me it was interesting to learn about a key period in the Catalonian independence movement which Spain continues to squash through brutal means to this very day!!
June 19, 2020
wonderful. really enjoyed this, i listened to it as an audiobook on borrowbox exclusively while out walking (listening to the story was my incentive to go out haha), and i really liked the way all the characters were each given their time to tell their part of the story. big murder mystery zoom call vibes off this one. :)
three years exactly as well since i was on holidays in barcelona so fantastic setting also! 3.5 stars for content (it’s not really about solving the mystery more about exploring the culture and groups in barcelona at the time, which i really liked!, but as a murder mystery novel like don’t expect the tension to be real high, ya know) but 4 stars for audiobook entertainment value. it does listen a bit like a play. i loved it.
three years exactly as well since i was on holidays in barcelona so fantastic setting also! 3.5 stars for content (it’s not really about solving the mystery more about exploring the culture and groups in barcelona at the time, which i really liked!, but as a murder mystery novel like don’t expect the tension to be real high, ya know) but 4 stars for audiobook entertainment value. it does listen a bit like a play. i loved it.
April 16, 2020
Seymour from Scotland Yard to Barcelona because and British subject has been killed in a Spanish prison and the Spanish police cannot find out how and why. These witty little mysteries are a delight to read. I really enjoy the author's humor. There are no forensics because of the time period but Seymour always gets to the bottom of the mystery through all the twists and turns of plot by merely talking to people and using his deductive reasoning.
February 21, 2022
Riots in Barcelona lead to the arrest of an English business man and his subsequent death in prison. Who was the cause of his death? The Spanish authorities who disapproved of his Catalan sympathies? Anarchist forces? Catalan separatists? Or could there be a more personal motive for his death? Seymour of Special Branch solves the crime (along with Chantale his girl friend), but neither of them can stop the First World War.
March 28, 2019
I don't like stories that are all dialogue. Although there were a number of settings they were not described and were irrelivant to the continuing dialogue. The case was intriguing, the racism real, and the social justice a sad fact of life.
January 23, 2024
Not a staggering thriller with quite an obvious ending but nevertheless an interesting book. I found the historical aspect fascinating and certainly learnt from it. Overall very enjoyable and I will try another in the series.
June 6, 2017
Very generous with 2 stars. Quality of writing Not much more than a comic book. Very obvious story, I solved at page 76. Fun to read because I'm in Barcelona.
July 12, 2020
Enjoyable read, and for once I managed to work out "who did it" before the end of the book.
April 4, 2022
6/10 5%. Another enjoyable romp through early 20th century European history. Short read, suitable for holiday fodder.
April 19, 2024
I agree with Alan’s review.
January 3, 2026
🍷🍷
Oh, these are just sooo good - and dammit, there’s only 2 left in the series! Our man is “Seymour of Scotland Yard,” never identified much further but an inspector ostensibly, whose beat is the docks in the East End in London.
Here, Seymour has been brought to a meeting with a Scotland Yard superior, representatives from the Foreign Office, the Home Office, and the Navy; Seymour has no idea what’s going on but apparently some two years prior an English national was murdered in prison during violence at the Semana Tragica (Tragic Week) in Barcelona. There are some who feel this should have light brought to it so as to show government as caring for its citizens, no matter how tardily. The problem is none of these agencies want any part in said investigation.
Seymour is of course chosen to go and find out what he can, especially as he is so low-ranking as not to bring much attention to his investigation, he speaks Spanish, and he is familiar with the docks and sailors and the Navy - so it’s cooked up to be called an inquiry into Navy stores going missing, an activity in which the dead man may have had involvement. Seymour readily agrees because it may offer him a chance to reconnect with Chantale, the half French/half Moroccan woman with whom he’d previously formed a personal bond - and she’s now in Barcelona. Reason enough for Seymour to go happily!
The era (1912), the different nationalities, the clashing cultures, and more make all these books very intriguing and interesting to delve into, and this one no less than the others. I give it a very high recommendation!
Oh, these are just sooo good - and dammit, there’s only 2 left in the series! Our man is “Seymour of Scotland Yard,” never identified much further but an inspector ostensibly, whose beat is the docks in the East End in London.
Here, Seymour has been brought to a meeting with a Scotland Yard superior, representatives from the Foreign Office, the Home Office, and the Navy; Seymour has no idea what’s going on but apparently some two years prior an English national was murdered in prison during violence at the Semana Tragica (Tragic Week) in Barcelona. There are some who feel this should have light brought to it so as to show government as caring for its citizens, no matter how tardily. The problem is none of these agencies want any part in said investigation.
Seymour is of course chosen to go and find out what he can, especially as he is so low-ranking as not to bring much attention to his investigation, he speaks Spanish, and he is familiar with the docks and sailors and the Navy - so it’s cooked up to be called an inquiry into Navy stores going missing, an activity in which the dead man may have had involvement. Seymour readily agrees because it may offer him a chance to reconnect with Chantale, the half French/half Moroccan woman with whom he’d previously formed a personal bond - and she’s now in Barcelona. Reason enough for Seymour to go happily!
The era (1912), the different nationalities, the clashing cultures, and more make all these books very intriguing and interesting to delve into, and this one no less than the others. I give it a very high recommendation!
Read
June 4, 2015A book from the local book exchange. Set in 1912 in Barcelona and Gibralter, it revolves around the prison death of a popular British businessman, investigated by a detective fluent in Spanish who has accepted the assignment in order to spend time with his North African girlfriend. The book is intelligent and relatively light-hearted without being a comic mystery novel. I didn't follow everything, especially at the beginning--the fact that it proves to be part of a series may explain that. Plot-wise, quite a few possible motives, mainly political, arise for the death. Altogether, I found the book a pleasant enough read but not one to keep. Back to the book exchange it goes.
April 13, 2010
This is an odd book...I enjoyed it but found the style off-putting to a degree. I realize it is part of a series and perhaps I need to read more of the series to put it in perspective. I picked it up because it is set in Barcelona and deals with the death of an Englishman during riots in the Spanish City in 1912. There's a lot of intriguing history and some very nice set pieces in the Barcelona cityscape. I'll write more about Pearce after I try something else by him, perhaps Dead Man in Istanbul.
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