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Katarzyna Grochola

The most widely read Polish author returns this time with a dark crime novel in which we follow the fate of Lieutenant Natan, an attractive anthropologist working alongside Veronica and Jana, a woman molested in her childhood by her father who decides to take justice into her own hands and punish other paedophiles.. She chooses her victims very carefully and makes the murders look like suicides. She has been able to deceive everyone around her for a long time, but the clever pair of detectives finally notice the disturbing patterns and launch an investigation. An equally complicated love intrigue unfolds in the background – Natan tries to develop a relationship with a woman he has recently met named Joana, but his growing affection for beautiful and brilliant Veronica stands in the way of it. Meanwhile, Jana meticulously chooses successive victims, but at a certain point she makes a mistake that will be very costly for her. Grochola is a master of psychological drama, which is why her crime novel is unrivalled – she makes the reader uneasy from the very first page with fast-paced action, deep psychological portraits, a plot that twists and turns, and moral dilemmas that all the characters must face. Dark, captivating, passionate prose. 

“Grochola proves she understands the detective novel as a genre. In this book nothing is black or white. The characters are not pure, and the events she describes are not what they seem. This is a thoroughly Polish detective novel set firmly in Polish reality. Yet the emotions that tug the protagonists and the reader feels make this a universal story of good and evil, life and death. Katarzyna Grochola has made her name with bestselling novels and short-story collections. Wounding the Marionette proves she is much more than that. Those who love her prose will find all the ingredients they love in Grochola, her style, sharp observations, humor, and witty dialogues, while mystery novel fans will find a top-shelf psychological detective novel”.

Maria Olecha-Lisiecka, Dziennik Zachodni

“Katarzyna Grochola proves she feels at homes in whatever genre she chooses. This is a detective novel that focuses on psychological and dramatic themes, maybe not typically ‘masculine,’ i.e. brutal and bloody, but which raises some pressing topics, giving food for thought and sketching a contemporary picture of our society. The author shows a very keen sense of observation and has poured out a convincing story that feels true to life, which really might have happened”.

Ktoczytaksiazki.pl

“Is Wounding the Marionette so different from the Katarzyna Grochola readers know from her popular dramatic novels? Not at all! That experienced pen, that trademark, characteristic style, that subtle humor and irony skillfully woven into the tale. Everything is where it should be, and on each page the author pulls you further into the web of a diabolically intriguing puzzle, which will keep you guessing throughout the book. She slows down and speeds up, builds tension, lets you catch your breath, then tosses you into the scintillating, emotional climax”.

Wielkibuk.pl

Release date: 2019
Pages: 496
ISBN: 978-83-08-06890-8


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Wounding the Marionette

Katarzyna Grochola

The most widely read Polish author returns this time with a dark crime novel in which we follow the fate of Lieutenant Natan, an attractive anthropologist working alongside Veronica and Jana, a woman molested in her childhood by her father who decides to take justice into her own hands and punish other paedophiles.. She chooses her victims very carefully and makes the murders look like suicides. She has been able to deceive everyone around her for a long time, but the clever pair of detectives finally notice the disturbing patterns and launch an investigation. An equally complicated love intrigue unfolds in the background – Natan tries to develop a relationship with a woman he has recently met named Joana, but his growing affection for beautiful and brilliant Veronica stands in the way of it. Meanwhile, Jana meticulously chooses successive victims, but at a certain point she makes a mistake that will be very costly for her. Grochola is a master of psychological drama, which is why her crime novel is unrivalled – she makes the reader uneasy from the very first page with fast-paced action, deep psychological portraits, a plot that twists and turns, and moral dilemmas that all the characters must face. Dark, captivating, passionate prose. 

“Grochola proves she understands the detective novel as a genre. In this book nothing is black or white. The characters are not pure, and the events she describes are not what they seem. This is a thoroughly Polish detective novel set firmly in Polish reality. Yet the emotions that tug the protagonists and the reader feels make this a universal story of good and evil, life and death. Katarzyna Grochola has made her name with bestselling novels and short-story collections. Wounding the Marionette proves she is much more than that. Those who love her prose will find all the ingredients they love in Grochola, her style, sharp observations, humor, and witty dialogues, while mystery novel fans will find a top-shelf psychological detective novel”.

Maria Olecha-Lisiecka, Dziennik Zachodni

“Katarzyna Grochola proves she feels at homes in whatever genre she chooses. This is a detective novel that focuses on psychological and dramatic themes, maybe not typically ‘masculine,’ i.e. brutal and bloody, but which raises some pressing topics, giving food for thought and sketching a contemporary picture of our society. The author shows a very keen sense of observation and has poured out a convincing story that feels true to life, which really might have happened”.

Ktoczytaksiazki.pl

“Is Wounding the Marionette so different from the Katarzyna Grochola readers know from her popular dramatic novels? Not at all! That experienced pen, that trademark, characteristic style, that subtle humor and irony skillfully woven into the tale. Everything is where it should be, and on each page the author pulls you further into the web of a diabolically intriguing puzzle, which will keep you guessing throughout the book. She slows down and speeds up, builds tension, lets you catch your breath, then tosses you into the scintillating, emotional climax”.

Wielkibuk.pl

Release date: 2019
Pages: 496
ISBN: 978-83-08-06890-8