A successful writer returns to her hometown after the mysterious death of a friend and discovers that the real case that inspired her first novel hides a series of secrets someone is willing to kill for in order to keep buried.
In Bilbao, during a book signing, thriller writer Quintana Torres receives from her childhood friend Jokin Elizegi —a man marked by alcohol and mental illness—an envelope containing a photo of the yellow diary of Alba Fernández, the young woman who drowned in the Urkizu reservoir in 1999 and whose case inspired Quintana’s debut novel. Jokin warns her that it contains secrets capable of destroying lives. That same night, a black SUV runs him over. Before dying, he manages to warn Quintana: “Go back home. Your father.” The message forces her to return to Urkizu and face a past she believed to be closed.
At the family home she discovers DVDs with police interrogations from 1999 and notes from her father, Bernardo Torres, then a local police officer, questioning the official version that the death was an accident. Meanwhile, at Jokin’s funeral, his sister Edurne confirms that he had been disturbed for months, ever since he found something after a work accident. Quintana concludes that Jokin had found Alba’s diary and that this was the reason for his murder.
The lead takes her to Soroa Island, where Edwin Rodríguez, the hostel caretaker, claims that Jokin found a yellow notebook hidden behind some cabinets. On the night of San Juan, when Alba died, someone had forced a window—making Quintana suspect that Alba may have hidden her diary there. Jokin’s cabin is found ransacked, and several of Alba’s former friends —Anita Guirao (Alba’s cousin, now a rowing school director), Oliver Prieto (her ex-boyfriend, now a successful chef), and Luken Arroniz (Alba’s troubled, alcoholic boyfriend in 1999)—admit having received photos of pages from the notebook. Everything confirms that the diary exists—and that Quintana is not the only one looking for it.
The tension escalates: the press leaks the story, Quintana is chased on the road, and her friend Gurutze Azkargorta, actress and confidante, is stabbed just as she is about to tell her something about her father. Police confirm that the car that killed Jokin was stolen and that someone broke into Bernardo’s house to erase evidence. Call logs show that Quintana’s father secretly traveled to Puerto de Vega to obtain proof. The threat is real and organized: everything revolves around the diary.
The village priest, Father Iñaki, confirms that Bernardo had uncovered information about an extremely serious crime and was planning to secure definitive evidence. Meanwhile, at Luken’s house, Quintana discovers black envelopes, photo copies, and blackmail drafts: Luken initiated the extortion but wasn’t the mastermind. Suspicion shifts to someone with more power.
The climax arrives when Quintana and Javi Porta, Urkizu’s municipal police officer and an old youth friend with whom she shares romantic tension, return to Soroa: they are attacked, he is wounded, and she barely escapes by swimming to the Guirao family home—Alba’s relatives. There, Lidia Guirao, Alba’s aunt and local matriarch, reveals her true face: she confesses that her husband Ernesto, the town doctor, abused Alba in 1999, and that since then she has pulled every string to recover the diary and erase evidence, going as far as causing Bernardo’s death, ordering Jokin’s hit-and-run, and hiring a hitman to silence witnesses. What Lidia does not know is that Quintana had already alerted emergency services; the police arrive in time, arrest Lidia, and neutralize the hitman.
With this, the cover-up network collapses. The judge reopens Alba’s case and, as closure, Quintana receives an envelope sent by her father before he died: Alba’s authentic diary, explaining what happened and detailing each crime committed to silence the truth. At last, the truth comes to light.
RELEVANT INFORMATION: Mikel Santiago is a Basque writer currently considered one of the best international best-selling authors of thrillers, crime novels, and fantasy. He has sold over a quarter of a million books and has been published in around twenty countries. In addition to his career as a novelist, he develops concepts and scripts for TV series. Several of his titles are in the process of being adapted for both television and film.
La chica del lago is a psychological thriller with rural noir undertones, combining mystery and family drama. It centers on an investigation containing all the ingredients to captivate readers and viewers: blackmail, chases, attempted murders, and well-crafted plot twists. On screen, the story offers great potential not only because of the plot but also due to its dark atmosphere, symbol-laden settings, and a spectacular finale.
AUDIOVISUAL POTENTIAL: TV series, Miniseries, Film, TV Movie
AVAILABLE LANGUAGES: Spanish
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