Hemingway’s Tears | The Prime Number Murders | The Canaima File | The Last Patient of Doctor Wilson | The Even Killer’s Revenge | Shoot the Moon | Matisse Code | The Caviar Murders
A brilliant, bold, and sharp-witted judge, Lola MacHor stars in a gripping saga of eight cases where the personal and political, the intimate and the criminal, intertwine in fast-paced, sophisticated plots rich with social critique. Despite raising five children, being married, and navigating unresolved tension with a colleague, Lola MacHor manages to solve cases that are not only legally complex but ethically and morally challenging. Perfect material for a long-running television series.
Judge Lola MacHor is one of the most distinctive protagonists in contemporary Spanish crime fiction: brilliant, relentless, ironic, and deeply human. She is a particularly compelling character due to her emotional complexity, sharp intellect, and ability to move deftly through both legal terrain and the moral quandaries raised by each case. Her world oscillates between her husband Jaime and their five children, her courtroom duties, the corridors of power, and the darkest recesses of the human psyche. Among those around her is Interpol Inspector Juan Iturri, a recurring collaborator who hides his deep love for her behind a façade of professionalism.
Throughout the series, MacHor faces not only intricate crimes and international conspiracies but also moral dilemmas, personal betrayals, and old wounds that never quite heal.
In her most acclaimed novel, The Prime Number Murders—the second in the series—a string of ritual killings shakes the foundations of the Church in Navarre. It begins with the disappearance of the abbot of the Leyre Monastery and the theft of consecrated hosts. Soon after, the archbishop receives a gruesome package: a human finger, a sacred host, and a parchment written in Aramaic. To avoid scandal, he calls in Interpol’s Juan Iturri.
Only after two clergymen are found dead in a remote hermitage, surrounded by cash and a historic Lignum Crucis, does Judge Lola MacHor enter the scene. With Iturri—whose feelings for her remain unresolved—and the eccentric sacristan Fermín Chocarro, she tries to decode a puzzle that merges faith, death, and prime numbers—symbols of purity and mystery used by the killer as both signature and intellectual challenge.
As the investigation deepens, a long-buried story emerges. The murderer isn’t just a criminal but the son of a devout woman who committed suicide after being abandoned by a high-ranking cleric. Expelled from the monastery upon being outed as gay and diagnosed with HIV, he returns under a new identity to exact revenge on those he holds responsible for a cycle of abuse, hypocrisy, and double standards.
The first volume, Hemingway’s Tears, plunges us into a gripping mystery set during the San Fermín festival in Pamplona, where a young and controversial professor, Alejandro Mocciaro, is fatally gored during the bull run—apparently by accident. However, the autopsy reveals he had been drugged beforehand, turning his death into a carefully planned murder. In one of their first joint investigations, Judge Lola MacHor and Inspector Iturri must unravel a complex web of academic rivalries, personal vendettas, and hidden conspiracies beneath the festival’s revelry.
In The Canaima File, Judge MacHor confronts one of the most explosive and personal cases of her career. Just as she’s about to transfer to the National Court, a long-closed rape case resurfaces, threatening her emotional and professional stability. At the same time, an international corruption scandal involving drug trafficking and the World Bank takes her from Madrid to Caracas, under Iturri’s collaboration and the watchful eye of the FBI.
In The Last Patient of Doctor Wilson, the judge is pulled into a macabre psychological game. While attending a legal conference in Barcelona, she receives a manuscript in her hotel from someone named Rodrigo, who confesses to murdering people to prove his own sanity. What begins as a literary provocation turns into a race against time, as a string of meticulously staged murders unfolds. With no clear leads and supported by her husband and Iturri, MacHor must confront an invisible killer who has made criminal logic his ultimate art form.
In The Even Killer’s Revenge, a helicopter crash in the Andes kills one of Argentina’s wealthiest men. Though it appears accidental, a murder confession arrives from a federal high-security prison. The sender is Ernest Wilson, a former criminal who agrees to help—but only if he can speak to the judge who once put him behind bars: Lola MacHor. As she resists reopening old wounds, another killer emerges to claim Wilson’s criminal legacy.
Shoot the Moon shifts into spy thriller territory. Lola receives a coded message from Juan Iturri, who’s been kidnapped by a clandestine organization. At the same time, the Spanish government receives a letter with direct threats and impossible demands. Against protocol, Lola joins the rescue team led by anti-terror expert Villegas. Four days to unravel a high-stakes kidnapping that hides more than mere extortion.
Matisse Code strikes at the judge’s private life. During a dinner party, her husband receives two American colleagues who helped secure his nomination for the Wolf Prize. That night, a treasured heirloom bracelet vanishes, followed days later by the disappearance of a supposed Matisse painting. The theft sparks an investigation that implicates the couple directly, unraveling hidden motives, cracks in a decades-old marriage, and the dark underbelly of the art world.
The Caviar Murders begins with six simultaneous deaths in the exclusive enclave of Sotogrande: a cardinal, an Arab prince, a pharmaceutical couple, a businessman, and a renowned surgeon. All die the same day, in the same way, and are all linked to the enigmatic Caviar Club. Now a commander in Interpol, Iturri must reunite with Lola MacHor—widow of one of the victims—to solve the mystery. A high-octane novel about wealth, power, and revenge, where elite secrets explode in deadly succession.
RELEVANT INFORMATION: Reyes Calderón is a Spanish writer, economist, and university professor. She is the recipient of the 2013 Abogados de Novela Prize, the 2016 Azorín Prize, and the 2023 Cartagena Noir Award, and is best known for the saga starring Judge Lola MacHor.
With a masterful blend of legal intrigue, social critique, and emotional tension, the novels featuring this brilliant, fiery magistrate from Navarre form an addictive series. Each book combines the relentless pace of crime fiction with the sophistication of spy thrillers and the psychological depth of a charismatic, unforgettable protagonist. Throughout the series, Reyes Calderón explores multiple facets of the criminal world (ritual killings, kidnappings, art theft, financial conspiracies) through elaborate and often twisted plots.
One of the elements that adds depth to the saga is the complex relationship between Judge MacHor and Interpol inspector Juan Iturri: a loyal friendship marked by unrequited—or perhaps impossible—love, adding an emotional layer to each case. With fast-paced storytelling, compelling characters, and polished prose, Calderón builds a narrative universe where personal and professional spheres constantly intersect—delivering not just mystery, but also humanity and reflection. An exceptional candidate for screen adaptation.
AUDIOVISUAL POTENTIAL: TV Series, Miniseries, Feature Film, TV Movie
AVAILABLE LANGUAGES: Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, Polish
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