Shortlisted for the 2022 CWA John Creasey (New Blood) Dagger Award
Nominated to the 2022 ITW Award for Best First Novel
FINANCIAL TIMES SUMMER PICK 2021
NR.2, KRIMIBESTENLISTE AUGUST DEUTSCHLANDFUNK KULTUR
A THRILLER THAT PROVES WHAT THIS GENRE IS CAPABLE OF —Buchkultur
BOTH FUNNY AND MOVING —The Times Crime Club
A BEAUTY. FIVE STARS. —Crime Fiction Lover
TOP WINTER DEBUT —Library Journal
UN SUBTIL CONTE MORAL —Le Figaro Magazine
SUPERBLY WRITTEN —Morning Star
BRILLANT —Tagesanzeiger
OUTSTANDING—Publishers Weekly Starred Review
SKILLFULLY CONSTRUCTED —FAZ
MOVE ASIDE MONTALBANO —Book Social
A VERY IMPRESSIVE DEBUT —Financial Times
GRANDIOS —WDR 5
PANTHÉON ROMANESQUE DES INSPECTEURS À SUIVRE —Journal du Dimanche
POWERFUL —Crime Time UK
MESSERSCHARFE SÄTZE UND GROßARTIGE DIALOGE —Book Nerds
TOLLES DEBÜT —Brigitte
IMPECCABLE STYLISHNESS —Strong Words Magazine
INTELLIGENT —Hörzu Magazin
NACHDENKENSWERT —Deutschlandfunk Kultur
TRULY CAPTIVATING —Lancashire Post
GUARANTEED TO SATISFY FANS OF ANDREA CAMILLERI, DONNA LEON AND LEONARDO PADURA—Booklist
Repentance is a brilliantly plotted thriller that was impossible for me to put down. Set in a Buenos Aires roiled by political corruption and economic crisis, we’re introduced to the charismatic Inspector Alzada who must unravel a murder mystery in the present that unearths painful secrets from the past. Eloísa Díaz is a fantastically talented writer, and her debut is easily one of the best crime fiction reads of the year." Lauren Wilkinson, award-winning author of American Spy
An accomplished, inventive detective novel thrumming with tension, family secrets, and the trauma of a violent military dictatorship. Seamlessly moving between the Dirty War and the economic crisis of 2001, Eloísa Díaz displays an acute understanding of Argentine history and politics. Repentance is both a riveting noir and a moving exploration of one man’s search to repair the past." Sanaë Lemoine, author of The Margot Affair
BUENOS AIRES, 1981.
Argentina is in the grip of a brutal military dictatorship. Inspector Joaquín Alzada’s work in the Buenos Aires police force exposes him to the many realities of life under a repressive regime: desperate people, terrified people and – worst of all – missing people. Personally, he prefers to stay out of politics, enjoying a simple life with his wife Paula. But when his revolutionary brother Jorge is disappeared, Alzada will stop at nothing to rescue him.
TWENTY YEARS LATER…
The country is in the midst of yet another devastating economic crisis and riots are building in the streets of Buenos Aires.
This time Alzada is determined to keep his head down and wait patiently for his retirement. But when a dead body lands in a skip behind the morgue and a woman from one of the city’s wealthiest families goes missing, Alzada is forced to confront his own involvement in one of the darkest periods in Argentinian history – a time of collective horror and personal tragedy.
Alternating between two key moments in the life of a man and his country, Repentance is a noir with a difference, featuring an unforgettable character on a quest to solve a case that offers both a painful reminder of all he has lost and a last chance at redemption.