Why a Booktrail?
WW2, 1990s – There are lots of places and locations mentioned in this novel. Dual time lines and stories that seem separated from each other make for a thrilling climax.
A Small Death in Lisbon
What you need to know before your trail
1990s Portugal
The body of a teenage girl, Catalina, is found on a beach and Inspector Ze Coelho wants to know who she is and how she got there.
Berlin 1941 – Klaus Felsen is forced out of his Berlin factory and into the ranks of the SS. He is sent to Lisbon and ordered to obtain wolfram – an essential metal needed by the 3rd Reich – at any cost.
Switching effortlessly between 1941 and 1990s Portugal, connections and secrets are slowly revealed to be closely intertwined. Coelho soon finds out that the death of Catalina may be linked in some way to the past.
Travel Guide
The shocking early scene in Lisbon starts off the novel and the story which then jumps back in time to when the Nazis are looking to purchase a rare metal known as Wolfram which can be used for the German war machine at the time.
The two parts of the story go back and forth to these two points in time yet it is the Nazi era story set up in the mountains around Lisbon that are the most atmospheric and of Lisbon of a different time.
The controversy of the Nazi Gold is a story that is intriguing and yet very disturbing – the time of Salazar the dictator is a period of history well explored here and gruesome to read.
As the lawyer Oliveros tells Coelho the detective:
”It’s easily forgotten, Inspector, that history is not what you read in books. It’s a personal thing, and people are vengeful creatures, which is why history will never teach us anything.”
You will need a strong stomach for parts of this novel.
Where Next?
