Crime/Detective, Prose  |  English sample translation available

Are you a fan of Jo Nesbø or the Danish-Swedish series The Bridge? Then you’re sure to enjoy Procházková’s newest novel. Although the book was published at then end of 2014, its popularity increased significantly in 2015 when it was turned into a successful Czech television series. A Polish translation of the novel will be published this year by Afera as the first book in a Czech crime series. Procházková is the recipient of many awards – five Golden Ribbons, two Magnesia Literas in the category of books for children and youth, as well as the most prestigious German award for children’s books, the Friedrich Gerstäcker Award. Her books have been translated into many languages, especially German. In The Zodiac Murders, a myriad of peculiar people surface around a dead man found in a lake: from a cannabis grower to a famous architect, a promiscuous cop to a mysterious woman from Cuba. How many motives can one murder have? We follow the unorthodox criminologist Holina as he struggles through the maze of the investigation. At the same time the novel looks deep into lives connected by a mesh of strong emotions and contradictory actions.

Praise

“The clever, realistic, skilfully constructed and in many ways unconventional plot is one of the best to be found in Czech detective novels in recent years.”

— Pavel Mandys, Hospodářské noviny

“The author’s narrative style is elegant in the way it gradually dispenses information, is attentive to nuances in character and able to work with a wide range of settings.”

— Vítek Schmarc, Respekt