Santiago Díaz presents the first case of a female inspector with a strict moral code and obsessive-compulsive disorder, in a fascinating trilogy full of tension and unexpected twists.
Spanish scriptwriter Santiago Díaz is well known for his talent in television drama, having produced more than 600 scripts over the past two decades. The structure of Díaz’s novel is thus its greatest strength: a genuine jigsaw puzzle that the reader must piece together bit by bit. When the final piece is placed on the board and the reader can see the complete picture, the whole plot becomes clear in front of their eyes.
The chapters of the novel are like scattered clues that must be pieced together, leading the reader to the solution to the crime. Each chapter ends on a cliffhanger that calls the previous clue into question; the reader is compelled to continue the quest to uncover the truth in a world brought to its knees by moral decay. In each of us, there is a little bit of the protagonist, Indira Ramos, obsessed with solving the case of Gonzalo Fonseca. And just when we think nothing can surprise us, the author sends us right back to square one, in a masterful plot twist.
Díaz plays with time and space in a dynamic, fragmented, thoroughly modern structure, which feels as though you are stepping into the mind of the person tasked with solving this difficult mystery. The author takes us from the police station to the prison, from the luxury resort to the victim’s home, from Indira Ramos’s psychologist to the home of prime suspect in Málaga, in a case that demonstrates once again that the root of the drama can be traced back not just a few days earlier, but as far back as 25 years.
Moral ambiguity is the compass that drives the plot, in which the only person who seems to live by a strict ethical code, and is utterly incorruptible, is Inspector Indira Ramos. She will be the target of ridicule and cruelty precisely because of her stubborn tenacity. She alone will be able to solve a case with so many shades of grey, for she is the one who, dispassionately, will accept only the truth of the facts without prejudging them or seeking a convenient resolution. However, when she finds herself in a race against time, will she allow herself the luxury of refusing to take shortcuts to prevent three people from dying? One of the themes of the novel is what it means to be innocent today, or whether there are only degrees of guilt in a contemporary era where one’s own well-being always takes precedence over the common good. Judges are tainted, the police are tainted, politicians are tainted, and money corrupts them all equally. Yet, there are still people who refuse to sink into the mire.
Indira Ramos is a perfect heroine in this world, a true Don Quixote whose integrity and moral perfection are met with derision and mockery by her colleagues. How could one not develop an obsessive-compulsive disorder about cleanliness when filth rules the world? In her first case, we see how she rises above everyone else to become the moral compass of the action, pointing out throughout the novel where the north star of evil lies. The problem is that little by little, it will point in all directions, and you need to be truly clear about your own convictions to avoid getting lost in the unexpected twists and turns. Because if there is one thing that dominates this story, it is the plot twists and surprises, making it difficult to discuss the plot without spoiling its essence.
The three novels in the Indira Ramos trilogy are El buen padre, Las otras niñas and Indira. The trilogy is followed by Jotadé and El amo, which include some of the major characters known to the readers.
MORE INFORMATION
Association website: afie.es
Instagram: @palabras_mas /@espera_que_te_lo_cuento
Facebook: Palabras+ and X (Twitter): AFIE_ES
FOR YOUR DIARY
Santiago Díaz will present his work in Geneva on Thursday 17 September 2026, at 7.15 pm, at the Bibliothèque d’art et d’archéologie du Musée d’Art et d’Histoire (Promenade du Pin 5, 3rd floor, 1204 Genève).
This event is organized by the Association of Spanish International Civil Servants and Palabras+ and will be moderated by Gemma Capellas Espuny and Jesús Guerrero Buitrago.
Special thanks to Laia Collet for the outstanding press release on the novel and to María Contreras for the resources from Penguin Random House Grupo Editorial.