The Arrow Collector | The Glacier Murders | The Tango Murders
Criminologist Laura Badía possesses an extraordinary talent for solving cases no one else can explain, and an even more dangerous one: a willingness to cross any line in the pursuit of justice. From Patagonia to Europe, every investigation confronts her with secrets buried for decades and forces her to decide how much she is willing to sacrifice to uncover the truth.
Laura Badía is a brilliant criminologist who has built her career through determination, hard work, and decisions few people would understand. Exceptional at her job yet often a source of frustration for her superiors, she has an extraordinary ability to find answers where others see only dead ends. She also possesses an almost unavoidable talent for getting herself into trouble.
Suspended from the police force on two occasions for breaking the rules, Laura has never hesitated to place the search for truth above established procedures. Her daily life revolves around complex investigations, difficult evidence, and secrets that many would rather keep buried. But Patagonia is a vast and unpredictable territory, where nothing is quite what it seems.
In The Arrow Collector, Laura investigates the death of Julio Ortega, a merchant from Puerto Deseado who is found dead in his home. The only clue is an arrowhead belonging to the legendary Panasiuk Collection: thirteen Amazonian opal arrowheads carved six thousand years ago and worth a fortune on the black market. The investigation leads her to work alongside Alberto Castro, an archaeologist from Buenos Aires.
Together, they discover that Enrique Vera, a local loan shark, was responsible for Ortega’s death over a gambling debt, though not for the theft of the arrowheads. The actual thief turns out to be Sergeant Debarnot, the first officer to arrive at the crime scene, who stole the collection and sold it online.
As Laura follows the trail of the artifacts, she navigates a maze of suspects and contradictory clues until she reaches an unexpected truth: Castro has been manipulating events from the very beginning. Terminally ill and aware that his remaining time is limited, he purchased the arrowheads in an attempt to secure his granddaughter’s future. To complete the collection, he kidnaps Susana, Laura’s aunt, intending to use her as leverage to obtain the final piece. The climax forces Susana to step in and save Laura. After solving the case, Laura recovers the money from the sale of the collection and sets it aside for Castro’s granddaughter, though the decision earns her yet another suspension.
In The Glacier Murders, temporarily away from police work, Laura meets Julián Cucurell, a Barcelona-based painter who has just inherited an abandoned hotel from an uncle whose existence he never knew about. While inspecting the building, Julián discovers a mummified corpse. Laura immediately recognizes the ring still worn by the victim: the same symbol that appeared years earlier on two bodies found near the Viedma Glacier, a case she never managed to solve.
Convinced that the three deaths are connected, they travel to Spain and discover that the victims belonged to the Brotherhood of the Wolves, a secret society originating in a religious school in Girona. As the investigation unfolds, a story emerges marked by violence, abuse, and decades of silence.
Julián’s uncle suffered severe abuse during his adolescence, and his father eventually killed the leader of the brotherhood in 1989 after years of suffering. The family fled to Patagonia, but the past eventually caught up with them. Once the mystery is solved, Laura decides not to publish the book she had been writing about the case, regains her position in the police force, and begins a relationship with Julián, who chooses to restore the hotel and start a new chapter in his life.
In The Tango Murders, Laura is now the head of the forensic police department and six months pregnant when a string of identical murders shakes Ushuaia, Andorra, and Amsterdam. All the victims share a disturbing signature: beside each body are found a pistol bullet and a fragment of vinyl containing the melody of La Cumparsita.
The investigation leads to Alma de Arrabal, the world’s most prestigious tango orchestra, the only connection between the cities where the murders have occurred. When the lead singer confesses to the crimes, the case appears solved. However, new recordings prove he is lying and force investigators to reopen the investigation.
With no other leads to follow, Laura accepts a proposal from Noelia Viader, a fugitive thief who has been tracking the orchestra for some time. In exchange for her assistance, Noelia asks Laura to make evidence disappear that would incriminate her partner. Laura agrees and, together, they discover that the true culprit is Amalia Roveda, the orchestra’s violinist: a woman scarred by the death of her son and obsessed with hunting sexual predators. When Amalia strikes again, Laura manages to track her down and corner her, but the woman takes her own life rather than face justice.
Once again, Laura sacrifices her career in order to solve the case. This time, however, she realizes that her true priority is no longer her work but the daughter she is about to bring into the world. One year later, she celebrates Malena’s first birthday, at peace with the decision that changed her life forever.
RELEVANT INFORMATION: Cristian Perfumo is an Argentine author of crime fiction and thrillers filled with mystery and suspense, all inspired by and set in Patagonia, where he was raised.
With a large international readership, Perfumo delivers a gripping series that brings together all the elements of a successful thriller: a complex and vulnerable protagonist, extraordinary settings that function as characters in their own right, and police investigations that blend classic mystery with profound moral dilemmas.
Patagonia provides a visually stunning and rarely explored backdrop for global fiction, with glaciers, remote forests, and isolated towns creating a naturally suspenseful atmosphere. Laura’s evolution across the three novels offers a powerful emotional arc. Each book works as a standalone case, making the series ideal for episodic television adaptation, while recurring characters and interconnected storylines provide continuity and depth for multiple seasons, in the tradition of True Detective and Mare of Easttown.
WHAT READERS ARE SAYING
“If you haven’t read Cristian Perfumo, I encourage you to do so, because it’s worth experiencing a crime-filled adventure in Patagonia. Perfumo always manages to transport you with a special kind of magic to the time and place where his stories unfold.” Amazon
“Cristian Perfumo’s mystery novels and the Patagonian setting feed off one another to create a microcosm worthy of exploration. It feels as though the author earned a doctorate from the university of suspense fiction.” Amazon
AUDIOVISUAL POTENTIAL: In development as a TV Series.
AVAILABLE LANGUAGES: Spanish, English, French, German, Polish, Italian.
