Red Queen

Author Juan Gómez-Jurado
Narrator Scott Brick
Publisher Pan Macmillan
Run Time 13 hours and 28 minutes
Format Audio
Genre Crime and mystery fiction, Crime and mystery: women sleuths, Fiction in translation, Thriller / suspense fiction.

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What to expect

'Electrifying' - A.J. Finn, bestselling author of The Woman in the Window

A Sunday Times Best Thriller Book of the Year. Shortlisted for the CWA Crime Fiction in Translation Dagger. More than two million copies sold in Spain alone. Red Queen is the first in Juan Gómez-Jurado's internationally bestselling serial killer thriller series, translated by Nick Caistor. Now an Amazon Prime Original series.

This audiobook includes an exclusive interview with the author.

You've never met anyone like her . . .

Antonia Scott is special. Very special. She is not a policewoman or a lawyer. She has never wielded a weapon or carried a badge, and yet, she has solved dozens of crimes.

But it's been a while since Antonia left her attic in Madrid. The things she has lost are much more important to her than the things awaiting her outside.

She also doesn't receive visitors. That's why she really, really doesn't like it when she hears unknown footsteps coming up the stairs.

Whoever it is, Antonia is sure that they are coming to look for her.

And she likes that even less . . .

Praise for Red Queen:

'A Spanish spin on The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo . . . A female Sherlock Holmes' - The Times

'Often compared with Lisbeth Salander . . . Antonia Scott looks destined to leave every bit as lasting an impression.' - Daily Mail

'This fast-paced story crackles with energy as it roams between Madrid's most exclusive enclaves and seedy back streets' – Best Books of 2023, Financial Times

Critics Review

Best thriller books of 2023 . . . What impresses is the brainy brio of Gómez-Jurado’s storytelling, as well as his striking depiction of Madrid as two cities, an elegant baroque facade concealing a gothic underworld

Sunday Times

Fizzes with energy and lively scene-setting, switching . . . There are obvious echoes of Lisbeth Salander, but the crackling interplay between Scott and Inspector Gutiérrez, a gay Basque policeman, adds an extra layer of originality, as does Nick Caistor’s sparkling translation.

Financial Times

An electrifying serial-killer thriller, a fiendishly clever puzzle mystery . . . Red Queen tops even The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo as a thinking reader’s thriller.

A.J. Finn, bestselling author of The Woman in the Window

A Spanish spin on The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo . . . stylish and stylised . . . A female Sherlock Holmes

The Times

Often compared with Lisbeth Salander from The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, Antonia Scott looks destined to leave every bit as lasting an impression.

Daily Mail

What Gómez-Jurado excels at, as conveyed in Nick Caistor’s brisk translation, is pacing of the breakneck variety. Short chapters, funny asides, lethally potent descriptions: They all contribute to a frenetic page-turning momentum . .. you’ll have great fun reading it.

New York Times

This thriller is going to have you gripping that wine glass tight as you race through the pages.

Glamour Magazine

Fast paced, memorable characters and a cinematic story that draws you in hook, line and sinker. I can’t wait to get my hands on the next in the series.

John Marrs, author of The One

Juan Gomez-Jurado has written a fast, exciting page-turner and it’s the first in a trilogy featuring Antonia and Jon. You’ll be wanting more.

The Record

Fans of Scandinavian crime thrillers might want to broaden their horizons with the first book in a Spanish trilogy featuring a mismatched duo . . . Already an international hit, Gómez-Jurado’s smart page-turner has been made into an Prime Video series that will debut later in 2023

Washington Post

A fast-paced thriller . . . giving us a mash-up of Nordic noir and an old-school detective with a neurodivergent mind . . . Red Queen works because along with a genius-protagonist, Gomez-Jurado has successfully woven in the other ingredients that thrill a mystery reader: a diabolical antagonist, a twisty game and a ticking clock.

Open The Magazine

A labyrinth of mystery, crisply plotted and paced, way ahead of the pack.

Steve Berry, New York Times bestselling author of The Kaiser's Web

Suspenseful and terrifying . . . A bit of Clarice Starling and a lot of Lisbeth Salander make Antonia a thoroughly compelling character, who will return in two more translations to complete Gómez-Jurado’s trilogy,

Booklist starred review

Exciting . . . a nice balance among character, action, and setting . . . The next two, Loba Negra (Black Wolf) and Rey Blanco (White King), must be translated into English, because thriller fans will be waiting. Fast-moving and quirky fiction from Madrid.

Kirkus Reviews

Nail-biting . . . tantalizing . . . Lizbeth Salander fans will find much to like.

Publishers Weekly

This has all the velocity and thrills of Stieg Larson’s Millennium series but none of the eyeroll-inducing misogyny . . . it’s all-engrossing.

First Clue (starred review)

Fresh and appealing to those that enjoy interesting characters and stories that constantly move forward and tales that end in unexpected ways.

Mystery and Suspense

Red Queen is a smart, addictive thriller, beautiful in both its complexity and devotion to characterization. Between the stunning plot twists, bold structural choices and surprising moments of wry humour, you won’t be able to put this one down

Alafair Burke, New York Times bestselling author of Find Me

This terrific novel has all the page-turning elements of the very best thrillers, but what makes it truly remarkable is the writing itself. Engaging and heartbreaking, witty and wry and immersive . . . Juan Gómez-Jurado has written an instant classic

Hank Phillippi Ryan, USA Today bestselling author of Her Perfect Life

Readers are going to fall for Antonia Scott. This character is, without a doubt, the best thing that has happened to the international thriller in the last ten years

ABC

Red Queen is terrific – a complex story that unfolds at breakneck speed, a compelling plot filled with twist after twist, a story told with rich, fluid language, and a fascinating, well-realized unlikely pair of characters, especially the brilliant Antonia Scott.

David Morrell, New York Times bestselling author of Murder as a Fine Art

The most compelling and original detective since Lisbeth Salander

The Times South Africa

The [story] crackled with energy as the story roamed across the Spanish capital, and the fast pace carries over into the television adaptation.

The Critic

User Reviews

Book 4.0

Narration 4.5

3.0

4.0

An exciting read. It would make a good movie. I prefer a more leisurely pace, hence the 3 stars but Iu2019m sure the fast moving story will appeal to other readers.

cjlang 07/12/2023

5.0

Pam Hinsley 10/04/2023

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