The missing head of Damasceno Monteiro (1999)

A young journalist and an unconventional lawyer help investigate a murder reaching through Portugal's social hierarchy. Tabucchi allows argument about power and abuse to interrupt the familiar momentum of the thriller. The English translation is by J. C. Patrick. Choose this if the conversations around a crime interest you as much as the chase; its refusal to keep legal principles separate from the treatment of actual people gives it its force.