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Every day María Dolz sees the same attractive couple breakfast at the café she frequents. But one day they do not appear and she feels bereft. Later, she learns that the man was murdered in the street. So when his widow Luisa returns to the café, María approaches her - only to find herself quickly entangled in the murky affairs of Luisa and her friends. The more she learns about the murder the more María comes to doubt what she has been told. Could this apparently random, pointless death actually have a more chilling interpretation? 'A beautifully written morally ambiguous study of a murder.' Sunday Telegraph 'Mesmerising. Chillingly clear and hypnotically eerie. At this very fine novel's core is a compelling meditation on love in all its ramifications.' Herald 'Plotted with tremendous skill and elegance, this cerebral tale is entirely absorbing.' Daily Mail ' I am enthralled by Marías' strange mix of made-up memories, lost experiences and real-life fantasies.' Marina Warner, Guardian 'A remarkable novelist.' Scotsman 'Sentence by glorious sentence, is there a better novelist alive in Europe now than Javier Marías?' Independent