The Final Problem by Arturo Perez-Reverte

stars

This book comes out February 10, 2026

ARC kindly provided by Little, Brown and Company, and NetGalley

Opinions are my own

The Flanders Panel by Arturo Pérez-Reverte, Margaret Jull Costa (Translator)

I heard about this book during an episode of  Writing Excuses that talked about structuring a book around a thing. In this case, it's a fifteenth century painting depicting a chess game that is being restored by Julia. While using an x-ray, she notices a note: Who killed the knight?

The story seemed a little odd to me but I finally figured out that it was from the 90s (had thought it was more recent) and had been translated from Spanish. That provided a bit more context because the story, while it does revolve around that key question, also isn't really about it at all. There are only a few characters but each is deeply developed.

Three stars

This book came out in 1990

Hard copy I didn't keep

Opinions are my own