The Labyrinth Of The Spirits

Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 832pp, £20

The first three novels in the Cemetery of Forgotten books series have chalked up worldwide sales of over 15 million. Now, at last, we have

The Labyrinth of the Spirits, Carlos Ruiz Zafon’s long-awaited finalé, which again has books within books and plots within plots. A suspensefilled story of loss, betrayal and redemption, it aims to resolve the many mysteries uncovered but only partially resolved in the earlier books. As you enter further into the maze of a Gothic Barcelona and the stories of characters old and new become ever more entangled, it feels as if you might never find a way out. New anti-hero, the mysterious, seductive siren Alicia Gris, is as dangerous and daring a protagonist as you could wish for. As she investigates deaths and disappearances long hidden in the deep shadow cast by the notorious Montjuic Prison with her sidekick Vargas, she shines more light into the darkest corners of the Franco regime. An ambitious tour de force that succeeds on just about every page.