Bitter Lemon Press – The Bell Bookshop

Red Water

Emma — Thu, 22 May 2025 00:00:00 +0000

THE STORY: 1989 The Dalmatian Coast. The investigation into a young woman’s disappearance falters as Yugoslavia plunges into civil war. Another three decades will pass before the truth is revealed. In a fishing village on the coast of Croatia, Silva, a 17-year-old girl, disappears one night. She is beautiful and cheeky, admired by many; but the police investigation led by Inspector Gorki Sain reveals a more complex portrait of Silva than her family believed. She dabbled in drugs and resold heroin. The police investigation is brought to a halt as Tito’s Yugoslavia descends into civil war. Only the family of the young woman stubbornly continues the search, amid the upheavals of Croatian society, from the fall of communism, through the 1991-1995 civil war, to the explosion of tourism with its toxic land speculation and corruption. Much happens as if we were witnessing vengeful providence at work in an ancient tragedy, in this case, set off by a sordid crime.

A Walk in the Dark

Emma — Thu, 16 Sep 2010 00:00:00 +0000

When Martina accuses her ex-boyfriend – the son of a powerful local judge – of assault and battery, no witnesses can be persuaded to testify on her behalf and one lawyer after another refuses to represent her. Guido Guerrieri knows the case could bring his legal career to a premature and messy end, but he cannot resist the appeal of a hopeless cause. Nor deny his attraction to Sister Claudia, the young woman in charge of the shelter where Martina is living, who shares his love of martial arts and his virulent hatred of injustice.

Thursday Night Widows

Emma — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 00:00:00 +0000

Three bodies lie at the bottom of a pool in a gated community near Buenos Aires. It’s Thursday night and, oblivious to their presence, Mrs Scaglia is strolling through the pool area gathering wine glasses left from her husband’s weekly gatherings with his neighbourhood friends. As well as a novel about people who go to unthinkable lengths to maintain appearances, Pineiro’s novel is also a psychological portrait of a desperate professional class that lives beyond its means that will resonate with credit crunch readers.