Dog Day | 
 enlarge | Author: Alicia Gimnez-bartlett
Creator: Nick Caistor
Publisher: Europa Editions
Category: Book
List Price: $14.95
Buy Used: $2.96
You Save: $11.99 (80%)
New (30) Used (17) from $2.96
Rating:  5 reviews
Sales Rank: 583897
Media: Paperback
Pages: 208
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.8
Dimensions (in): 8.3 x 5.3 x 1
ISBN: 1933372141
Dewey Decimal Number: 813
EAN: 9781933372143
ASIN: 1933372141
Publication Date: June 1, 2006
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Condition: A MUST READ --- SHIPS DIRECT FROM OUR LOCAL WAREHOUSE
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Product Description
"Gimnez-Bartlett has discovered a world full of dark corners and hidden elements." ABC In this hardboiled fiction for dog lovers and lovers of dog mysteries, detective Petra Delicado and her maladroit sidekick, Garzon, investigate the murder of a tramp whose only friend is a mongrel dog named "Fright." One murder leads to another and Delicado finds herself involved in the sordid, dangerous world of fight dogs. Dog Day is first-rate entertainment. Alicia Gimnez-Bartlett was awarded the Feminino Lumen prize for the best female writer in Spain in 1997. She subsequently launched her Petra Delicado series, quickly turning her into one of Spain's most popular and best-loved crime writers.
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| Customer Reviews:
 Novelistic Mystery October 11, 2008
EHinLA (Pasadena,CA)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I enjoyed this book very much for a few different reasons. While I typically enjoy mystery fiction, I am often appalled at how poorly they are written - transparent characters being the norm - all narrative, no substance. What we have here are characters that are well drawn, experiencing their lives in a 3-dimensional way - with frailties, strength, grace, wit and confusion about their lives, among other pleasant and interesting qualities. The mystery aspect was intriguing, and although I had some ideas at to what was what, I didn't mind that so much because the characters kept me interested. It was a bit of a slow read at times, but that was fine with me too! I don't always need to speed through. And, several times I was really taken by a line - the author can be philosophical, wise and insightful - the rewards of a novel. A quietly enjoyable read. A few translation problems here and there, none too serious. I look forward to reading more in the series - so far above the usual predictable bestseller was this one.
Enjoyable, quality mystery from a Spanish writer July 28, 2008
JengaJ (Bethesda, MD)
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
I picked this novel up in an aiport bookstore before a long flight, and was very glad that I did. This is a fresh voice for American mystery readers. I've read enough police procedurals and "mystery thrillers" taking place in the familiar U.S. locations, peopled by the usual suspects - hard boiled American detectives and cops, crooks, killers, psychopaths, and the like. For fans of the genre who want a change of pace, I strongly recommend books that are recently hitting the stores, like Ann Cleeve's Raven Black (Shetland, England), or Miyuke Miyabe's All She Was Worth (Japan), or this great read by Gimenez-Bartlett, about a tough Spanish detective in Barcelona and her food-loving partner, investigating a mystery revolving around dogs.
This is a well-written novel with good characters and a fresh perspective, though the plotting is not the strongest I've encountered in the genre. For animal lovers, the descriptions are disappointing - the author has obviously not done her research. I won't give the plot away, but it does take the detectives awhile to catch on to what's afoot (modern readers will be a step ahead- the novel was written years ago and only recently translated). And again, the dog-related descriptions are off the mark, and for readers who know about dogs, that can be a distraction. This is not a unique problem to this author, however - I've read several books featuring dogs that have gotten basic facts about breeds or dog behavior wrong.
However, that did not take away from my enjoyment of this book. This is a strong, fresh voice for American mystery fans, and I have already ordered the next installment in this series. I'm also eagerly looking for other mysteries/procedurals written by non-American authors - it really does make for a terrific change of pace.
A final note - DO NOT READ the book jacket- it contains a major plot spoiler.
Dog day February 9, 2008
ukusabug (IL)
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It labored a litle through the middle section but all in all was a worthwhile read and informative as to todays world with regard to animals.
 Spanish Lady Detective amazes with STUPIDITY! September 11, 2006
Christopher Enzi (San Francisco)
0 out of 4 found this review helpful
The fly leaf of this book says it is the first in a series. Let's hope it is a series of ONE because the detective in this book is only fractions smarter than her author. If detectives in Spain are anywhere near this stupid, they don't belong in a book. They belong on daytime television.
Nothing in this book surprised me. Every twist was clear 100 pages before it happened. I rate it 2 stars because the cover art is attractive but as a dog lover or a reader of dark mysteries, this book was a complete washout!
Barcelona Crime Fiction August 16, 2006
Kevin Lane (Norfolk, VA United States)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Gimemez-Bartlett is one of Spain's premier crime writers. This is one of her books centered around Barcelona police inspector Petra Delicado. She is a strong, smooth character well-matched with her slightly rotund and bachelor partner. A cast of quirky characters, a glimpse of the underside of Barcelona through the investigation of a murder linked to a dog theft ring. What makes foreign fiction tough sometimes is the quality of the translation, and in this case the translation is solid and gives the text a sparse, noir quality. This book is 10 years old and just came out in English, and I hope we see more of her work in English in the future.
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