Giménez-Bartlett, Alicia 1951-

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GimÉnez-Bartlett, Alicia 1951-

PERSONAL:

Born 1951, in Almansa, Spain.

ADDRESSES:

Home—Barcelona, Spain.

CAREER:

Worked as a Spanish literature teacher before becoming a full-time writer.

AWARDS, HONORS:

Feminino Lumen prize, 1997, for best female writer in Spain.

WRITINGS:

NOVELS

Exit, Seix Barral (Barcelona, Spain), 1984.

Pájaros de oro (title means "Golden Birds"), Montesinos (Barcelona, Spain), 1987.

Caídos en el valle (title means "Fallen in the Valley"), Montesinos (Barcelona, Spain), 1989.

El cuarto corazón (title means "The Fourth Heart"), Versal (Barcelona, Spain), 1991.

Vida sentimental de un camionero (title means "The Emotional Life of a Truck Driver"), Editorial Lumen (Barcelona, Spain), 1993.

La última copa del verano (title means "The Last Glass of the Summer"), Grijalbo Mondadori (Barcelona, Spain), 1995.

Día de perros, Grijalbo (Barcelona, Spain), 1997, translated by Nick Caistor as Dog Day, Europa Editions (Rome, Italy), 2006.

Una habitación ajena (title means "Another Person's Room"), Lumen S.A. (Barcelona, Spain), 1997.

Mensajeros de la oscuridad (title means "Messengers of the Darkness"), Plaza & Janés Editores (Barcelona, Spain), 1999.

Muertos de papel (title means "Death on Paper"), Plaza & Janés Editores (Barcelona, Spain), 2000.

Serpientes en el paraíso (title means "Serpents in Paradise"), Planeta (Barcelona, Spain), 2002.

Secreta Penélope (title means "Penelope's Secret Investigation"), Seix Barral (Barcelona, Spain), 2003.

Un barco cargado de arroz (title means "A Full Boat of Rice"), Planeta (Barcelona, Spain), 2004.

ESSAYS

Torrente Ballester, Editorial S.A. (Barcelona, Spain), 1981.

Gonzalo Torrente Ballester: premio de literatura en lengua castellana 'Miguel de Cervantes' 1985 (essays), Anthropos (Barcelona, Spain), 1987.

El misterio de los sexos (title means "Mystery of the Sexes"), Plaza & Janés Editores (Barcelona, Spain), 2000.

OTHER

El elefante herido (title means "The Wounded Elephant"), 1982.

Ritos de muerte (title means "Rites of Death"), Grijalbo (Barcelona, Spain), 1996.

La deuda de Eva: del pecado de ser feas y el deber de ser hermosas (title means "The Debt of Eve: The Sin of Being Ugly and the Obligation of Being Beautiful"), Lumen (Barcelona, Spain), 2002.

Tiempo de tormenta (screenplay; title means "Time of Storm"), 2003.

Prime Time Suspect, translated by Nick Caistor, Europa Editions (Rome, Italy), 2007.

Also creator of television series Petra Delicado, 1999, and author of short stories.

SIDELIGHTS:

A best-selling crime novelist in Spain, the prize-winning Alicia Giménez-Bartlett is the author of a popular series of books featuring Inspector Petra Delicado and her partner, Sergeant Fermín Garzón. Together, they have appeared in about a half dozen novels in Spain, and the series was also adapted to television in 1999. The first installment to appear in English translation is Dog Day, a 2006 version of 1997's Día de perros. The story is about the murder of a man and the later discovery of his dog, which may link the crime to the illegal selling of the pets for nefarious purposes. Critics such as Lynne Maxwell in the Mystery Scene Magazine enjoyed the plot, which the reviewer noted "employs clever strategies of detection, with ingenuity that is entertaining, as well as effective." Critics were even more impressed, however, by Giménez-Bartlett's realistic and compelling characters. Writing in the Philadelphia Inquirer, Marietta Dunn appreciated the uniqueness of the two main characters, commenting: "Of the two partners, Petra is the tougher, Fermín the more emotional, an interesting reversal of male-female roles. She is more controlled; he is more apt to leap before he thinks. She keeps her anger tightly coiled, but he sometimes lets his get the best of him." I Love a Mystery Newsletter contributor Maddy Van Hergbruggen added: "Petra is a completely unique character.… She's a bit cranky, a bit roguish, but in her heart, dedicated to the cause of achieving justice for the little people." A Publishers Weekly critic concluded that the author "has produced a dark, distinctive and surprisingly funny novel sure to appeal not just to dog lovers."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Kirkus Reviews, May 15, 2006, review of Dog Day, p. 497.

Library Journal, June 1, 2006, Jo Ann Vicarel, review of Dog Day, p. 92.

Philadelphia Inquirer, August 23, 2006, Marietta Dunn, "Partners' Relationship Spices Up a Mystery in Dog Day."

Publishers Weekly, April 17, 2006, review of Dog Day, p. 168.

ONLINE

Europa Editions Web site,http://www.europaeditions.com/ (January 7, 2007), Maddy Van Hergbruggen, review of Dog Day.

Mystery Scene Magazine Online,http://www.mysteryscenemag.com/ (January 7, 2007), Lynne Maxwell, review of Dog Day. *