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JOSÉ LUIS CORREA (Las Palmas, 1962) teaches at the University of Las Palmas in Gran Canaria.
He has won a number of different prizes for his writing, of which the following stand out: the Premio Benito Perez Armas (2000) for his novel THEY KILLED ME SO BADLY and the Premio Vargas Llosa (2002) with TAKE A LOOK AT CARLA.
‘Did someone say the roman noir had breathed its last? Correa shows the genre is alive and in very good health.’ La Verdad Digital
‘The Canarian Marlowe, as intimate and full of humour.’ Berliner Morgenpost
The Day of Innocents is as good a day as any to die. So thinks Gervasio Alvarez when they tell him a corpse has been found. Andrea Merida, a soldier’s widow, mother of three, pensioner, has been poisoned with a cyanide capsule. No one heard or saw anything. Nothing can explain the motive for the crime. No one seems to gain by her death. So Alvarez calls on an old friend, asking him to come out of his voluntary retreat. Correa’s best yet.
Alba Editorial Spain
Material: Spanish edition, finished copies.
A young journalist disappears without trace; a pilgrim, seriously wounded, is found wandering in Tafira on Gran Canaria. From these seemingly unconnected events starts Ricardo Blanco’s fifth case. Priests hiding the truth, nuns who aren’t what they seem, lowlife extortionists and a sacred painting of great value which no one knew existed, are all part of a web of corruption. We find here a more intimate version of the detective and fans will recognise the agile, direct, ironic language full of subtlety, humour and local colour.
Alba Oscura Spain
Material: Spanish edition (349pp).
The fourth in the series starring Ricardo Blanco. The detective from the Canary Islands discovers a girl’s dismembered corpse on the coast at La Laja. A tattoo and a necklace are the only pieces of evidence which might help him solve the crime and they lead Blanco deep into the world of prostitution and drug trafficking on the island. A whirlwind tale which grabs the reader by the throat and doesn’t let you go. Correa’s great prose, ironic tone and dark humour guarantee the author’s position within the Spanish literary landscape.
Alba Oscura Spain
Del Vecchio Italy
Material: Spanish edition (239pp).
The third instalment of the adventures of detective Ricardo Blanco opens with the sudden death of the first violinist of the New York Philharmonic during a concert in the Auditorio de Las Palmas. Readers of his last two novels starring this investigator will recognise here some of his familiar traits: his disastrous personal life, his tendency to fall in love, his lack of interest in money. But in DEATH OF A VIOLINIST we find out more detail from his past. These elements, coupled with a varied cast of secondary characters and a brilliantly surprising twist at the end, full of suspense, will keep readers on their toes throughout.
'Readers of his previous novels starring this investigator will recognise some of already familiar traits: his disastrous personal life; his tendency to fall in love, his lack of interest in money. But in Death of a Violinist we get new information about his past. These elements, together with a great cast of secondary characters and a surprising final twist, full of drama, create a story that grips the reader and keeps him on the edge of his seat.' La Voz de la Gran Canaria
Alba Editorial Spain
Tammi Finland
Material: finished copies (301pp).
This is Correa’s second novel starring Ricardo Blanco, the detective from Gran Canaria, lover of jazz, women, film and crime fiction, who is destined to become one of the greats of the literary detective novel.
‘Ricardo Blanco is back. The brilliant investigator returns to the literary scene with the hand of his creator José Luis Correa, who never runs out of ideas.’ Entrevista
‘He has managed to create a new space in the competitive world of the roman noir.’ La Provincia
‘With skill and grace the Canarian writer J. L. Correa relocates the American model of the roman noir in the city Las Palmas.’ Faro de Figo
Alba Editorial Spain
Unionsverlag ‘Metro’ Germany
Tammi Finland
Del Vecchio Italy
Material: finished copies (223pp).
FIFTEEN DAYS IN NOVEMBER is the first in a series to feature the detective, Blanco, as the main character set in an unusual territory for the noir genre: Las Palmas de Gran Canaria.
‘An authentic pleasure.’ El Faro
‘Seduces and distracts from reality with genuine characters.’ La Provincia
‘A contemporary version of Dashiell Hammet’s Sam Spade or Raymond Chandler’s Marlowe from the Canary Islands, Ricardo Blanco is a cynical and crestfallen detective who has a unique sense of smell and an instinct which tells him that nothing is as it seems. The novel follows the conventions of the roman noir presenting an extraordinary portrait of Las Palmas.’ Faro de Vigo
Alba Editorial Spain
Unionsverlag ‘Metro’ Germany
Tammi Finland
Del Vecchio Italy
German Radioplay WDR
Fama Bulgaria
Material: finished copies (186pp).