Death of a Nationalist (Soho Crime) [Paperback]

Rebecca Pawel (Author)

Book Description

Series: Soho Crime | Publication Date: February 1, 2004

Praise for Rebecca Pawel:

"Pawel anchors a tense and exciting story with a terrific and complex plot."—Detroit Free Press

"[Pawel] turns the clock back to 1939 and Madrid’s tumultuous past. . . . An intriguing juxtaposition of the political and the personal."—Kirkus Reviews

"An intriguing tale amid the gloom of war-torn Madrid. It is a humane and moving portrait of a divided people coming to grips with the virtues of enemies and the villainy of friends."—Dan Fesperman

Madrid 1939. Carlos Tejada Alonso y León is a Sergeant in the Guardia Civil, a rank rare for a man not yet thirty, but Tejada is an unusual recruit. The bitter civil war between the Nationalists and the Republicans has interrupted his legal studies in Salamanca. Second son of a conservative Southern family of landowners, he is an enthusiast for the Catholic Franquista cause, a dedicated, and now triumphant, Nationalist.

This war has drawn international attention. In a dress rehearsal for World War II, fascists support the Nationalists, while communists have come to the aid of the Republicans. Atrocities have devastated both sides. It is at this moment, when the Republicans have surrendered, and the Guardia Civil has begun to impose order in the ruins of Madrid, that Tejada finds the body of his best friend, a hero of the siege of Toledo, shot to death on a street named Amor de Dios. Naturally, a Red is suspected. And it is easy for Tejada to assume that the woman caught kneeling over the body is the killer. But when his doubts are aroused, he cannot help seeking justice.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The immediate aftermath of the Spanish Civil War provides the bleak setting for Pawel's stirring first novel. Madrid in 1939 is filled with bomb craters, desecrated churches and nearly abandoned streets, while black markets are just about the only markets with anything to sell. The hatreds and atrocities shared by the Nationalists (supported by the fascists) and the Republicans (supported by the Communists) still simmer and erupt in sporadic violence. The Guardia Civil has the responsibility to maintain authority-and their enthusiasm and ruthlessness for enforcing order terrorizes the citizens. The intertwined fates of Sergeant Tejada Alonzo y Leon of the Guardia Civil and that of Gonzalo Llorente, a wounded Republican in hiding, are handled with unusual skill and subtlety. When Tejada arrives at the scene where a murdered comrade lies, he leaps to a conclusion about the killer's identity. He must follow a tortuous path to find the real killer and, ultimately, redemption. Gonzalo has lost his love as well as his hope for any kind of future. His one aim is for a small measure of vengeance before he dies. Pawel is unsparing in her depiction of the casual brutalities spawned by the war, but also offers evidence of the power of little civilities and kindnesses in a novel that easily transcends the formulaic crime story.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From the Publisher

Congratulations, Rebecca, on winning the Edgar (R).

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 280 pages
• Publisher: Soho Crime (February 1, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1569473447
• ISBN-13: 978-1569473443
• Product Dimensions: 7.3 x 5 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (21 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #798,713 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

I'm a native New Yorker, and a product of the city's much maligned public schools. After four years at Columbia University (plus another year for a Masters at Teachers College), I went back to the public schools this time as a high school teacher.

Just to get this out of the way; no, my family is not Spanish, or of Spanish descent. We're European Jews, which means we're from everywhere and nowhere. The study of foreign languages was always respected in my home, and I've studied Japanese and French as well as Spanish, although I haven't achieved the same fluency. Lately, I've started studying Dutch to research a new novel.

I learned Spanish mostly in school, a little bit in the neighborhood and in Puerto Rico, and a lot more in Spain. I first visited Spain as a high school student in 1994, and since college I've tried to get back there pretty frequently.

New York holds a special place in my heart, but I love all cities, and believe passionately in pedestrian zones, bicycle lanes, public transportation, and other things that most Americans seem dubious about.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Grim and Unsparing Debut, January 31, 2003

By 

A. Ross (Washington, DC) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Death of a Nationalist (Hardcover)

Set in Madrid of 1939, just after the end of the Spanish Civil War, this intriguing crime book hinges on the politics of the place and time. Franco and his nationalist/fascist army and place are in power and busy hunting down remnants of the republican and communist resistance. Spain's cities are scarred by bullet and shell holes, food is exceedingly scarce, and reprisals and disappearances are the order of the day. To the greatly feared Guardia Civil falls the task of maintaining law and order, so when one of their own is shot in the street, a ruthless investigation led by the slain officer's former partner moves swiftly to identify the communist responsible for the assassination.

The investigator is Sgt. Tejada, a respected grizzled veteran who increasingly questions the official party line as he gets accustomed to life after the Civil War. A compelling character, he soon finds himself tangled in a complicated case involving the black market which may or may not be linked to his friend's murder. (French crime writer Didier Daeninckx employed a somewhat similar plot in his 1995 book, A Very Profitable War, set in Paris just after WWII). Meanwhile, a wounded republican must evade capture by the Guardia and mete out his own revenge. The two men's stories both revolve around vengeance, redemption, and hope-seen from opposite ends of the spectrum. Pawel manages to do this without creating a hero and villain dynamic-both are sympathetic, and both are flawed.

Ultimately, the book is rather grim and unsparing, and thus true to the nature of civil war. It's a very good debut, although readers without some previous knowledge of the Spanish Civil War may not get as much from it. If the setting is of interest, check out Alan Furst's spy novel, Night Soldiers, which is set partly in the middle of the Spanish Civil War, and Vittorio Giardino's graphic spy novel No Parasan!, which vividly captures battle-scared Barcelona of the era.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Compelling mystery set in post-Spanish Civil War Madrid, February 19, 2003

By 

elkiedee "elkiedee" (London) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Death of a Nationalist (Hardcover)

When Tejada sees a woman standing by his friend's dead body, he assumes she must be the killer and shoots her in return.

This is post-Civil War Madrid and Tejada is part of the winning side's armed force helping to establish the new Francoite regime and clear out any "Reds" or supporters of the losing Republican side.

I was nervous initially on reading the blurb for this book as I wondered if I would enjoy a novel which appeared to be sympathetic to Franco's supporters. I need not have worried. In fact, the story is told from more than one point of view. Tejada is a major character but so is the dead woman's lover, her young niece and her niece's teacher.

The dead woman was trying to retrieve her niece's school notebook with her homework. It's not long before Tejada realises that his assumption may have been wrong and finds the notebook, prompting him to investigate further. While he's searching for his friend's killer, the dead woman's lover is looking for her killer, ie Tejada.

This turns out to be less a mystery about good and evil than one of shades of grey, though I do think Pawel's sympathies are ultimately with the republicans. It's a complicated and absorbing story, but the real strength of the book which stood out for me was skill in characterisation, and I found the portrayal of thoughts and feelings in reaction to historical situations a different and very convincing approach to writing a historical novel.

I hope I get a chance to read more books by this author.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Atmospheric historical mystery debut, February 26, 2004

By 

Larry Gandle (Tampa, Florida) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Death of a Nationalist (Hardcover)

The time is 1939 . The place is Madrid. A member of the guardia civil is murdered in the streets. Sergeant Carlos Tejada Alonso y Leon is assigned to look into the case. A woman is found at the scene kneeling at the body. It is assumed she is the killer. Her anger and verbal abuse leveled at the Nationalist guards confirming her staunch Republican views appears to seal the case. However, as Tejada looks into the past of the murder victim who was a friend of his, doubts begin to emerge.
Rebecca Pawel wonderfully evokes the setting of Spain just after its bloody civil war that put Franco into power. Much research went into this extremely well written debut. In fact, the immediacy of the setting brings to mind the war torn novels of J. Robert Janes. There is much poverty and misery on the streets where a simple bar of chocolate would be almost impossibly expensive to obtain. Tejada is a complex character. He evokes mixed feelings in the reader. In spite of summarily executing a prisoner, he reveals a great deal of depth in his views and aspirations. He honestly believes in the Nationalist cause and his strong convictions that he is right make him a sympathetic figure to the readers. The plot is relatively simplistic and not lengthy. A worthwhile and recommended read.