The lawyer Javier Melero left his toga behind a few years ago to dedicate a large part of his time to literary and intellectual activity. Classes at the university, articles in La Vanguardia, podcasts and radio talk shows occupy most of his time, without neglecting some court cases that he still manages. He is now publishing a new book, the third in four years, in which he delves into the murder of a man at the hands of hitmen, who were hired by a high-ranking businessman from Barcelona.
In Fragile virtue (Ariel), the author reviews with virtuous prose and a scathing style a real case that he took on years ago and which he always suspected would end up on the pages of a book. "I had two cases in a row, this one and another, and both were contract killings. They were people with money and both hired minions to commit murder. And the same thing happened to both of them. These people, while they are talking in a three-star restaurant, everything is going well for them, but as soon as they go downstairs and come into contact with the criminal world, things go wrong", emphasizes the author.
A businessman came to him to help him because he was scared. Some men had ended the life of one of his collaborators in front of him and were blackmailing him to pay the victim's debts or else he would end up with the same end. Six months passed like this. Paying and in silence. Suffering inside Until it was put into the hands of Melero or, in this case, of a lawyer who looks a lot like him and who retains the same sarcasm and acid humor as the author. "He is a character who is starting to become independent of me. It has my stuff, but it's taking on a life of its own. Since I plan to continue with him, I see the potential for this man to continue and that little by little he will detach himself from me. He already has his own arguments", he quips. The protagonist is not an insulted anti-hero and society type with alcoholism problems, as is usual in the Swedish noir novel, nor a female researcher with a lot of courage as styled in current Spanish noir, but the character de Melero is that of a successful lawyer from Barcelona, who gets what he wants, but who looks around from a certain skepticism that allows him to analyze the environment around him with a critical and destructive spirit.
The influence of Vázquez Montalbán is noticeable in the costume portrait of Barcelona that Melero draws, and other influences are also perceived such as that of American psycho, the success of Bret Easton Bellis, which pushes the protagonist to scrutinize in detail the clothing of the other characters and to eviscerate the bad ones. "My character is more bothered by aesthetic problems than by moral doubts," he jokes.
The author takes advantage of his powerful narrative voice to leave no stone unturned, warning of the dangerous drift of the city until pouring out a sharp criticism of the wealthy classes who look over everyone's shoulder, but who in the end kill themselves just like bread-and-oil criminals. "They are people whom everyone considers virtuous, as pillars of society. They are from the Barça box office, the Cercle del Liceu, the Palau de la Música and the whole world, and in reality when you scratch a little there is the same beast that you can find anywhere", he describes. This is the fragility of the characters that Melero alludes to in the title of the book. “The narrator makes a moral judgment that is much more severe with these people than with the criminals of the lower sectors. These people have opportunities and all kinds of means to avoid having to resort to these things. In this the narrator is a bit moralistic".
The story takes place in a Barcelona far from the locals, with fewer and fewer authentic places where you can feel at home, although the protagonist manages to reveal a few that still survive, such as the Barcelona billiards, just below the Rambla Catalunya , or the Gorría restaurant, where, as the narrator warns, you will never find "spherified food". "I am a patriot of the Eixample and it is likely that I will never move from here again, but my vision of the city is becoming more and more sour. It is becoming a carcass. It is a city that sells itself. The Boqueria market is being sold, the Rambla is being sold, everything is being sold and in the end there will be nothing left”, reflects Melero.
The author acknowledges that he had a good time writing the book after works with a more transcendental charge such as El encargo, which narrated the details of the trial in the Supreme Court, and Cambalache, both from the Ariel publishing house, which explained the life of the last forty years in Catalonia of former president Jordi Pujol, who was a client. Javier Melero clarifies that this is not the third work but the fourth of his career. "Before, I published Prontuario penal procesal, which no one read", he jokes.
