Join us for a discussion of award-winning Spanish writer Javier Cercas' Even the Darkest Night:

Street brawler Melchor’s passion for justice is awakened by his mother’s unsolved murder. Melchor’s lawyer manages to wipe his criminal record clean so that he can join the police force, and he quickly ascends the ranks. Stationed in the bucolic Catalan town of Terra Alta, Melchor builds a family, enjoying the rhythms of village life until a brutal triple murder initiates a devastating snowball effect. When elderly business scion Francisco Adell, his wife, and their Romanian housekeeper are tortured and killed, Melchor and his partner, Salom, are assigned to the task force. Melchor is convinced that the killings are a professional job, partly because of the lack of evidence that quickly shuts down the official investigation. Despite warnings from Salom and his superiors, Melchor can’t stop digging, even after it exacts a devastating price from him and the entire village.

A winning choice for both literary- and crime-fiction book groups. -- Christine Tran (Booklist 4/1/2022)