Jimena Cruz Series

The Wild Girls | The Sacred Waters | The Cursed Children

The past always finds new victims.

In The Wild Girls, we meet Jimena Cruz, a journalist from Granada who works for a local newspaper but dreams of a more ambitious career. She feels her sharp investigative instincts and analytical skills are wasted in the routine of such a small publication.

Everything changes when a body is found under mysterious circumstances in the Albaicín, Granada’s historic quarter. Jimena is stunned to discover that the victim is her aunt María, a nun who worked at Virgen del Carmen School, the very school Jimena attended as a child. Hugo, one of the detectives leading the investigation and Jimena’s lover, tries to keep her away from the case, but it is deeply personal, and she throws herself into uncovering the truth.

Jimena discovers that the Virgen del Carmen School was the center of a horrifying operation in which orphaned girls were kidnapped, sexually abused, and forced to give birth so their babies could be sold through an illegal trafficking network. As the long-buried conspiracy comes to light, Jimena learns that she herself was one of the trafficked babies and that her own family was complicit. From that moment on, her life—and the lives of those around her—are changed forever.

Following the events that transformed her life, The Sacred Waters introduces a very different Jimena. Another murder shakes Granada, prompting the police to seek her help once again, fearing the killings have been committed by the same murderer who terrorized the city four years earlier.

Despite her frequent disagreements with police methods, Jimena agrees to investigate on one condition: she will assemble her own investigative team. It includes young historian Fátima Suárez and Gari Atxa, an action-driven criminologist to whom Jimena soon feels a powerful attraction.

However, the investigation takes an alarming turn when a series of banners begins appearing all over Granada, publicly announcing the details of the killer’s next victim.

This chilling revelation forces the team to confront the reality that their adversary is far more sinister than they had imagined, challenging everything they thought they knew. The crucial question becomes whether they can stay one step ahead of the murderer before it is too late.

In the third installment, The Cursed Children, Jimena witnesses one of the most horrifying scenes of her career during the procession of Christ of Mercy, one of Granada’s most solemn Holy Week events. The procession has barely begun when a scream shatters the silence: a body hangs from the bell tower of the Church of San Pedro y San Pablo, suspended above the crowd.

What should have been a night of religious devotion becomes the beginning of a new nightmare. The discovery of the body is followed by the circulation of a disturbing manifesto warning that someone intends to reduce the Alhambra to ashes. As the city descends into panic, Jimena is drawn into an investigation that blurs the boundaries between the sacred and the profane, the symbolic and the real.

But the story began decades earlier. In the 1980s, a group of people silently walks through a remote landscape toward a place where they believe they will find truth and redemption. A mysterious man awaits them there. The moment that will shape everything is about to unfold.

Decades later, the consequences of that night return to haunt the present. Jimena must confront not only a killer driven by a fanatical belief system but also the ghosts of a past the city thought had been buried forever.

Her investigation leads her to one of Spain’s largest religious sects, with more than three hundred followers across the country and its strongest base hidden in the Alpujarra mountains near Granada. Founded in the 1950s, the organization has spent decades preparing a plan to spread terror, with the Alhambra as its ultimate target. Jimena eventually uncovers that the sect’s leader is Justo Ruiz, a respected anthropologist and trusted member of her own investigative circle, who has manipulated evidence, kidnapped witnesses, and used infiltrated accomplices to divert suspicion. His arrest, as he attempts to flee through Portugal to Brazil, ends the immediate threat, but exposes the scale and deep roots of a fanatical faith that continues to lurk in the shadows.

RELEVANT INFORMATION: The Jimena Cruz series consists of The Wild Girls, The Sacred Waters, and The Cursed Children. It is a crime series with strong mystery elements, making it ideal for a glocal production. Although set in Granada, Spain, its themes have universal appeal. Throughout the trilogy, May R. Ayamonte explores subjects deeply rooted in Spanish history, including historical memory, religion, and religious cults.

In the vein of acclaimed productions such as Mare of Easttown and The Invisible Guardian, May R. Ayamonte creates a compelling female protagonist with a rich psychological arc. The series features a broad ensemble cast and multiple interconnected storylines full of unexpected twists, providing abundant material for a television adaptation.

May R. Ayamonte is a renowned Spanish booktuber with hundreds of thousands of followers across her social media platforms. She was also a finalist for the Edebé National Prize for Young Adult Literature.

“A committed writer who shines in her own right. May R. Ayamonte has entered the world of crime fiction—and she’s here to stay.” — Susana Martín Gijón

“In The Wild Girls you’ll find history, murders, plot twists, and countless moments that will leave you speechless.” — Josu Diamond, author and booktuber

“An intense thriller that keeps you on edge until its devastating ending.” — Granada Hoy

“The Wild Girls is a novel that keeps you tense and eager to know more from beginning to end.” — Goodreads

“A thriller that won’t leave anyone indifferent. A must-read for anyone looking for crime, mystery, suspense, and a strong, empowered female protagonist. A marvel.” — Goodreads

AUDIOVISUAL POTENTIAL: TV Series, Miniseries, Feature Film, TV Movie.

AVAILABLE LANGUAGES: Spanish.