Books from Spain

In The City of Mist, Carlos Ruiz Zafón returns to the shadowy, enchanting Barcelona of his celebrated Cemetery of Forgotten Books series. This posthumous collection brings together eleven stories filled with mysterious characters, forgotten histories, supernatural encounters, and the irresistible magic of literature. Some stories expand the universe of Zafón’s bestselling novels, while others explore new corners of his richly imagined world. A young boy discovers that writing can win the attention of the girl he loves. A labyrinth maker escapes plague-stricken Constantinople to build a library designed to withstand the destruction of time. Miguel de Cervantes encounters a mysterious stranger who offers him an extraordinary literary bargain, while the celebrated architect Antoni Gaudí embarks on a journey to New York that could determine the fate of one of his greatest creations. Throughout the collection, Zafón blends Gothic mystery, historical imagination, dark humour, and a profound love of books. His stories transform cities into labyrinths of secrets and libraries into places where the past remains alive. Both a celebration of storytelling and a farewell to one of Spain’s most beloved modern novelists, The City of Mist invites readers to lose themselves once more in a world where every book conceals another mystery.

Lucas Corso is a cynical, resourceful book detective who makes his living tracking down rare editions for wealthy collectors. When he is hired to authenticate a manuscript believed to be a chapter from Alexandre Dumas’s The Three Musketeers, he finds himself drawn into a mystery involving a suspicious death, literary forgery, and a secret society of Dumas enthusiasts. But another assignment soon takes him into even darker territory: a wealthy collector wants him to verify a rare book entitled The Nine Doors of the Kingdom of Shadows, a mysterious volume said to contain instructions for summoning the Devil. As Corso travels between Madrid, Toledo, and Paris, he encounters obsessive bibliophiles, enigmatic women, and individuals whose fascination with forbidden knowledge borders on madness. The two investigations begin to intertwine, blurring the boundaries between literary scholarship and the occult. With every clue, Corso becomes less certain about whom he can trust—or whether the dangers surrounding him are entirely human. Combining intellectual mystery, Gothic suspense, and a playful exploration of literary history, Pérez-Reverte creates a thrilling tribute to the power of books and the obsessions they inspire. The Club Dumas asks whether rare books are merely objects to possess or gateways to worlds that might be better left unexplored.