Detective Story

Design by John Gall

Putting an envelope on a book jacket in which letter-writing figures prominently has been done lots of times, but it's done especially well here. Seeing the letter inside the envelope suggests we think about what's being written: is it the truth or a string of lies?


Deception and untruths figure prominently here. From the Knopf web site: "Now in prison, Antonio Martens is a torturer for the secret police of a recently defunct dictatorship. He requests and is given writing materials in his cell, and what he has to recount is his involvement in the surveillance, torture, and assassination of Federigo and Enrique Salinas, a prominent father and son whose principled but passive opposition to the regime left them vulnerable to the secret police. Preying on young Enrique’s aimless life, the secret police began to position him as a subversive and then targeted his father. Once this plan was set into motion, any means were justified to reach the regime’s chosen end—the destruction of an entire liberal class."

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