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Jacek Dehnel is a writer, poet and translator. He has written several novels, among them Lala (Oneworld, 2018). He writes crime fiction under the pseudonym Maryla Szymiczkowa together with partner Piotr Tarczynski, a translator and historian. They live in Warsaw. Antonia Lloyd-Jones is a prize-winning translator of Polish literature. She has translated works by many of Poland’s leading contemporary novelists and authors of reportage, as well as crime fiction, poetry, screenplays, essays, and children's books. She is a mentor for the WCN Emerging Translator Mentorship Programme, and from 2015-17 was co-chair of the Translators Association. Her previous translations of work by Jacek Dehnel include the novels Lala (Oneworld Publications, 2018) and Saturn (Dedalus Books, 2012).
`While there is a strong whiff of Agatha Christie in this book, it is much more than a pastiche... The story fuses high comedy with an evocative portrayal of the period. And the author's pseudonym conceals the identities of two well-known Polish writers...ably translated by Antonia Lloyd-Jones.' * <i>Sunday Express</i> * `The unravelling of the mystery is ingenious... It's fun and sparky and the glimpse of turn-of-the-century Polish manners and mores is beguiling.' * <i>Daily Mail</i> * 'An ingenious marriage of comedy and crime.' * Olga Tokarczuk, 2018 winner of the Man Booker International prize * `This is a delicious read.' * Michal Rusinek, satirist and children's writer * 'This is an entertaining, and with its depiction of upper-class life in a now vanished society, an informative read.' * <i>Promoting Crime</i> * `Highly comical...an extremely absorbing novel.' * <i>Kurzojady</i> * `The main appeal here is the pseudonymous Szymiczowa's intriguing evocation of turn-of-the-century Poland, an area that remains underexplored in crime fiction. The approach is largely humorous, and some of the whimsy here will not appeal to all tastes.... But for those readers who find themselves attuned to the wavelength of amateur sleuth Zofia Turbotynska, there is much pleasure to be had - and even such issues as class and women's rights are addressed in the context of a pleasing narrative.' * European Literature Network * `Charming and moreish...this is a tale that conjures up the delightful books of Dorothy L Sayers and is the perfect diversion for annoying commutes.' * <i>Stylist</i> top books for March * `How have Dehnel and Tarczynski pulled it off? By not taking the easy option, but by taking pains to recreate the Krakow of more than a century ago, comically satirising the haughty city without resorting to malice. As we read this book, we love and loathe old-time Krakow equally. And that's just what the authors wanted.' * <i>Gazeta Wyborcza</i> * 'Think Wes Anderson meets Agatha Christie. Szymiczkowa's work is a well-crafted page-turner, but also offers a deeper comment on sexism and gender inequality in contemporary Poland.' * <i>Calvert Journal</i> *
