As many of you know, my sister Berta has been working with me for many years. Even though we have our ups and downs, I am very lucky to have her by my side, as without her this agency would not have made it this far. Besides, she has something I’ve never had: the publisher’s instinct. Berta believed in many novels that have ended up having a strong international impact. As an editor, she launched several titles written by Dolores Redondo, Sílvia Soler, Care Santos or Rafael Nadal for the Catalan market. For that reason, when she told me that we had to represent Jordi Solé, I didn’t hesitate for a second. 

When Jordi Solé first told me about the Pink Panthers I knew practically nothing about this gang of thieves. It surprised me that they were capable of robbing luxury establishments all over the world in just 60 seconds. So I investigated. The Pink Panthers’ shenanigans inspired a TV series, The Last Panthers, starring Samantha Morton and John Hurt. There are also several documentaries for film and TV, such as Smash & Grab, the Story of the Pink Panthers, directed by Havana Marking, or Pink Panthers: les braqueurs du siècle by the French journalist Vanina Kanban. And even a comic book from the series Gangs, with a script by Jean Claude Bartoll and a drawing by Kerac. But amongst all these audio-visual productions, there’s still not a novel about them… This is how EL TIGRE Y LA DUQUESA (“The Tiger And The Dutchess”) was born, defined by its Spanish-language publishers as an urban, addictive and thrilling novel, and yes, although it sounds very cliché, it is. 

I have blind faith in Berta’s judgment. I think publishers should look at this novel. Harper didn’t think twice about it, since Elena García Aranda, another Spanish publisher with this “gift”, saw it very clearly from minute zero. I think that this novel already deserves a reading space for all those who like adventure, mystery, crime fiction, and well-written thrillers. I leave you with a summary of this novel so that it does not go unnoticed by anyone:

The body of a young woman who died with a smile on her lips appears in a square in the Gothic quarter of Barcelona. Agent Elsa Giralt, questioned since her partner was quadriplegic in a gunfight, will have to solve it if she doesn’t want her career, and perhaps her life, to go down the drain. But what appears to be another crime will become something much more important and convoluted when Dragan Jelusic, the most wanted member of the most audacious jewellery-thieving gang on the planet, the Pink Panthers, enters the scene.

EL TIGRE Y LA DUQUESA (“The Tiger And The Dutchess”) is an exceptional piece of work, of which you enter and no longer leave. As Susana Hernández has said: One of those novels that you can’t read in the subway because you’re sure to miss your stop.