Book Log 2023 #23: The Prisoner of Heaven by Carlos Ruiz Zafon

Life is unusually good for Daniel Sempere, as he and his wife Bea have a new baby boy and his old friend Fermin is about to be married. That peace is shattered when a stranger with a porcelain hand visits the bookstore and purchases a rare copy of The Count of Monte Christo, and after penning an inscription leaves it as a wedding present for Fermin.  That inscription leads Fermin to reveal a 20 year old secret, and he enlists Daniel to help track down the man with the porcelain hand before things take a serious - and deadly - turn.

The book pulls together characters and plot points from the first two novels in the series, but felt less Gothic/supernatural than those books. It's also much shorter, which may come as a relief to those who've worked through the 500-plus pages of the first two books. I liked it, but am curious if this marks a shift towards less fantastical storytelling.