The Infatuations

"If Agatha Christie had adored Michel de Montaigne and Honore de Balzac, she might have produced something like this deliciously deep murder mystery. The novel begins with a seemingly random crime: A businessman is stabbed to death by a homeless madman in Madrid. The solution is a humdinger. But the best parts occur in Javier Marías’ hypnotizing meditations on marriage, love, grief, longing, envy, literature and betrayal. As sophisticated as a Bach fugue, The Infatuations is also so intimate that the chapter breaks feel almost like breaths."