Resumen de Discerning the Absurd: Metaphysical Detection, Parody and other Mysteries of Javier Tomeo’s Crime Fiction
This article explores the late Javier Tomeo’s relationship with Spanish crime fiction. Javier Tomeo (1932–2013) differs from more traditional Spanish crime writers like Manuel Vázquez Montalbán, Eduardo Mendoza and Andreu Martín because he does not situate his stories in the social, political and economic realities of post-Franco Spain. Instead, he uses the genre to explore universal concerns about the human condition, namely the nature and utility of truth, reality and reason. A close reading of El discutido testamento de Gastón de Puyparlier (1990) and Preparativos de viaje (1986) reveals these novels’ unique affiliations with the classic detective formula and spy fiction and evinces the author’s precarious but irrefutable position among crime fiction writers inside and outside of Spain.
