Translation Rights TQE / Against the clock

During the fourth lap of the Tour de France, Tobias Gros, the favorite and unbeaten winner of the four previous Tour de France races, is murdered while he rests in his hotel after a hard day’s activity. His death results in great commotion and rumors of all sorts. The main suspect is Santi Mieses, a cyclist in the rival team and the last to speak to Gros before his death. Wishing to put a stop to the rumors, Luis Carrión, the director of Mieses’ team hires detective Ricardo Cupido. In his investigation, Cupido will enter the harsh and fascinating world of cycling. He will witness the crucial sacrifice of the «herd», the drug taking and its terrible consequences, the quarrels and falling outs between cyclists, and the pacts made between teams…

Contrarreloj is not only a splendid crime novel, but also a book that pays homage to those who work to make cycling an admirable sport.

Eugenio Fuentes was born in Montehermoso (Cáceres, Spain) in 1958. His novels have been awarded with the prizes Extremadura a la Creación and IX Alba/Prensa Canaria (this latter prize for El interior del bosque). He is the author of a collection of short stories, Vías muertas (Dead Tracks, 1997), and of a book of literary essays, La mitad de Occidente (Half of the West, 2003). Fuentes, however, finds himself among the Spanish crime fiction writers with international projection thanks to his private investigator, Ricado Cupido, the main character in his series of novels: La sangre de los ángeles (The Blood of Angels, 2001), Las manos del pianista (The Hands of the Pianist), Cuerpo a Cuerpo (One on One – Brigada 21 Prize to the best crime fiction novel written in Spanish in 2008), El interior del bosque (Inside the Forest), and Contrarreloj. Tusquets Editores has also published Venas de nieve (Veins of Snow), a brilliantly narrated story about the fight against fatality.