Translation Rights TQE / The Man Who Loved Dogs

A fascinating historical investigation of the reasons why the great    utopia of the 20th century became corrupted

In the year 2004, Iván, an aspiring writer who runs a veterinary clinic in Havana, looks back on an episode in his life that took place in 1977, when he met a mysterious man walking two Russian greyhounds on the beach. The “man who loved dogs” started to trust Iván with stories about the killer of Trotski, Ramón Mercader, a close friend of his about whose life he knew many intimate details. Thanks to these revealed secrets, Iván is able to reconstruct the vital trajectory of Liev Davídovich Bronstein, also known as Trotski, and of Ramón Mercader. Moved by some sort of macabre predestination, they become victim and executioner of one of the most revealing crimes of the 20th century. Both stories gain full sense when Iván projects upon them his own experience in modern-day Cuba, his vital and intellectual processes, and his destructive relationship with “the man who loved dogs”.

Leonardo Padura has written an ambitious and fascinating historical investigation of the reasons why the great utopia of the 20th century became corrupted.

Praise for previous novel La neblina del ayer:

“Leonardo Padura confirms his status as the finest crime-fiction writer  in the Spanish language, a worthy successor to Manuel Vázquez Montalbán.”The Times

 “A historical, political and social crime novel, but also a cruel, sentimental, somber and bitter piece of beautiful fiction.”   Lire

“Part biblio-mystery, part tragedy and all brilliant. An exceptional novel.” Publishers Weekly

“Bawdy, colourful and moving Havana Fever comes highly recommended.” Crime Time

“The untold story of Havana, a city crushed by “historical exhaustion”. It is a fitting backdrop to a tale of love, music and murder stretching over the epoch of the revolution.” Times Literary Supplement

 “Like a crime fiction novel by James Ellroy but with the beat of Havana.” Le Point

Leonardo Padura was born in Havana in 1955. He obtained a degree in Spanish Language and Literature from the University of Havana, and has worked as a scriptwriter, journalist, and critic. He is the author of essays, collections of short stories, and of La novela de mi vida (The Novel of My Life) about the poet José María Heredia, but is best known for his series of crime novels starring Detective Mario Conde. These have been translated into many languages, and have won prestigious literary awards such as the Café Gijón Prize in 1995, the Hammett Prize for best crime novel in 1997, 1998, and 2005, the Premio de las Islas, in 2000, in France, the Brigada 21 Prize to the best novel of the year, as well as several editions of the Cuban Critics Prize and the National Prize for Novel in 1993. The Mario Conde series, acclaimed by readers and critics alike, is thus far made up of six novels: Pasado perfecto (Past Perfect), Vientos de cuaresma (Lenten Winds), Máscaras (Masks), Paisaje de otoño (Autumn Landscape), Adiós, Hemingway (Good-bye, Hemingway) and La neblina del ayer (The Mist of Yesterday). In all of them, “el Conde” investigates cases that bring the reader to the heart of contemporary Cuba.