In 1938, during the Spanish Civil War, Alicia lost her parents at the age of nine when the Nationalists savagely bombed Barcelona. Twenty years later, she carries the emotional and physical scars from that brutal era. Weary of her work as an investigator for Spain's secret police in Madrid, she's ready to move on. But at her boss's insistence, she agrees to solve one last case: the mysterious disappearance of Spain's minister of culture, Mauricio Valls.

With her partner, policeman Juan Manuel Vargas, Alicia discovers a clue?a rare book by the author Victor Mataix hidden in Valls's office. During World War II, Valls was the director of the notorious prison in Barcelona's Montjuïc Castle, where several writers?including Mataix?were imprisoned. As Alicia and Vargas come close to finding Valls, they uncover an eerie web of kidnappings and murders tied to the corrupt Franco regime.

Navigating the dark labyrinths of Barcelona, she is aided by the Sempere family as well as the unforgettable Fermín, ultimately confronting the hideous missing pieces of the puzzle.

Carlos Ruiz Zafón is the author of eight novels, including the internationally bestselling and critically acclaimed Cemetery of Forgotten Books series: The Shadow of the Wind, The Angel's Game, The Prisoner of Heaven, and The Labyrinth of the Spirits. His work, which also includes prizewinning young adult novels, has been translated into more than fifty languages and published around the world, garnering numerous awards and reaching millions of readers. He lives in Los Angeles.