Start gifting
Libro.fm for Business
Start a membership, get two free audiobooks
Almost ready!
In order to save audiobooks to your Wish List you must be signed in to your account.
Log in Create account
Limited-time offer
Get two free audiobooks when you make the switch!
Now’s a great time to shop indie. When you start a new membership supporting local bookstores with promo code SWITCH, we’ll give you two bonus audiobook credits at sign-up.
Make the switch
Gift audiobook credit bundles
You pick the number of credits, your recipient picks the audiobooks, and your local bookstore is supported by your purchase.
Start giftingThe Summer of Dead Toys
This audiobook uses AI narration.
We’re taking steps to make sure AI narration is transparent.
Learn moreA riveting crime thriller set in the midst of a sultry Barcelona summer, introducing the first book in the Inspector Salgado series
Argentine native Inspector Héctor Salgado is one of Barcelona's leading criminal detectives. After a stint on probation—he assaulted a suspect from a human-trafficking case—Salgado is back in the office and eager for something major.
To his dismay, he's assigned to a routine accidental death instead: a college student fell from a balcony in one of Barcelona’s ritzier neighborhoods. But as Salgado pieces together details from the victim's life, he realizes that his death was not all that simple: his friends are clearly hiding something and drugs might be involved. Salgado follows a trail that will lead him deep into the underbelly of Barcelona’s high society, where he’ll confront dangerous criminals, long-buried secrets, and, strangely, his own past. But Salgado thrives on pressure, and he lives for this kind of case—dark, violent, and seemingly unsolvable.
Gripping, sophisticated, and wickedly entertaining, The Summer of Dead Toys introduces a charismatic new detective and announces Antonio Hill as a new master of the crime thriller.
Antonio Hill lives in Barcelona. He is a professional translator of English-language fiction into Spanish and speaks fluent English.
Reviews
“This dark thriller is an amazing debut—acutely observed and meticulously crafted. Long live Hector Salgado—a thoroughly human detective-protagonist. I look forward to meeting him again.” —John Verdon, bestselling author of Let the Devil Sleep“Salgado’s rich inner life and Hill’s talents at plotting and prose bode well for a successful series.” —Publishers Weekly
“Penetrating, atmospheric. . . . The plot is first-rate, with plausible twists and revelations [and] the book transcends the mystery genre with its focus on the dark secrets families keep. . . . Thoroughly compelling.” —Kirkus
“Reminiscent of Ian Rankin's John Rebus or Jo Nesbø's Harry Hole, Héctor Salgado is an intriguing new sleuth that crime fiction fans will want to follow as they explore the gritty side of another European city.” —Library Journal
Praise from the UK
“Hugely impressive. . . . Hill’s book seems to have arrived fully-formed with confidence and authority, peeling back the skeins of deceit and betrayal in a most satisfying fashion.” —The Independent
“Entertaining.” —The Times
“A welcome corrective to snow-blindness from too much Nordic noir. . . . Excellent characterization, a sympathetic and engaging protagonist, and plenty of plot twists, with a cliffhanger ending that sets things up nicely for the next in the series.” —The Guardian Expand reviews