Summary of The Mystery of the Sintra Road
In this 19th-century detective novel, two friends are kidnapped and taken blindfolded to a mysterious house. Inside, they discover the corpse of a man who appears to have died from opium poisoning. The novel unfolds through a series of letters sent by various people to a newspaper, with each letter revealing new details about the crime.
Reasons to read The Mystery of the Sintra Road
José Maria de Eça de Queiroz is widely regarded as the greatest Portuguese novelist of the 19th century, his ‘magnum opus’ being “The Maias”, a sprawling 700-page family saga set in Lisbon. “The Mystery of the Sintra Road” is a shorter, more concise mystery novel. It was the debut of Eça de Queiroz, written in collaboration with his friend Ramalho Ortigão. Originally published in a Portuguese newspaper as daily instalments in the form of letters from those involved in the case, many readers believed it was a true crime story. The novel is considered the first Portuguese detective novel and an early classic of Portuguese literature. While 19th-century books can sometimes be daunting, this entertaining detective story is certainly worth the effort.
Setting: Between Sintra & Lisbon (Portugal)
Original title: O Mistério da Estrada de Sintra
Year of publication: 1870
Nr of pages: 288
