Plot Twist: Celebrated Female Spanish Crime Writer Turns Out To Be Three Men
No one suspected a thing.
At the Planeta awards on Friday television scriptwriters Agustín Martínez, Jorge Díaz and Antonio Mercero shocked guested, including Spain's King Felipe and Queen Letizia, when they picked up the award that was granted to female thriller writer ‘Carmen Mola’.
The authors revealed that Mola does not actually exist when they took to the stage to receive the coveted book prize which also included money.
The writer has been described as a ‘Madrid-born author’ who uses a pseudonym to remain anonymous. On a website for Mola’s agent a series of photographs of an unknown woman looking away from the camera are shown.
Martínez, Díaz and Mercero had posed as a female university professor who lives in Madrid with her husband and children.
The book titled ‘The Beast’ which has won ‘Mola’ the price revolves around a serial killer who is chased by a journalist, a policeman and a young woman. The novel is set during a cholera epidemic in 1834.
Spanish media have noted that the stark contrast between Mola’s life as a married professor and her novels, which are known for being bloody and graphic, serves as a useful marketing tool.
The news of Mola being fake was not received positively by everyone. Former director of the Women's Institute, a key national equality body in Spain, Beatriz Gimeno, who describes herself as a writer and a feminist criticized Martínez, Díaz and Mercero in a tweet.
Gimeno said: "Beyond using a female pseudonym, these guys have spent years doing interviews. It's not just the name, it's the fake profile they've used to take in readers and journalists. Scammers."
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