Synopsis of El aspecto del diablo
1935. As Europe braces itself for a disastrous war, six deranged murderers, known as ‘The Six Demons’, are confined to a mental asylum in a castle in rural Czechoslovakia. Each of these patients has their own story to tell, all of them as dark as they are disturbing. Using revolutionary new techniques, Dr Viktor Kosárek, a young psychiatrist, is tasked with unravelling the secrets behind their murders.
At the same time, a serial killer dubbed ‘Leather Apron’ by the newspapers is leaving a trail of murders across Prague. Constantly eluding his pursuers, everything seems to suggest that these heinous crimes were committed by the Devil himself.
What is the connection between this terrible murderer and the insane prisoners at Eagles Castle?
Only the Devil knows. And it’s up to Viktor to uncover the truth.
Set in the shadow of the Nazi darkness that erupts across the border in Czechoslovakia, El aspecto del diablo is an imaginative and highly addictive novel.
Craig Russel
Craig Russell was born in Fife, Scotland, and has worked as a police officer, an advertising agency proofreader and a creative director.
He is the author of the successful series starring Jan Fabel, which is set in Hamburg and of which Roca Editorial has published five novels: Death in Hamburg, A Tale of Death, Resurrection, The Lord of the Carnival and The Revenge of the Valkyrie. In 2007, he was awarded the prestigious Polizeistern (Police Star) prize by the Hamburg Police and has been the only foreign author to receive this award. In 2008, he won the CWA Dagger in the Library for his Fabel series and, in 2015, the McIlvanney Prize for The Ghosts of Altona. He has also been a finalist, among other awards, for the CWA Duncan Lawrie Golden Dagger, the most important distinction in the world for writers of black series, as well as the SNCF Prix Polar in France.
Russell is also the author of the black series starring Detective Lennox. His work has been translated into twenty-five languages and has been adapted for the screen on several occasions. His latest novel, The Devil's Face, has been selected for the 2019 Wilbur Smith Adventure Writing Prize.
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