José María Guelbenzu

José María Guelbenzu studied at Catholic Institute of Business Administration and Management, Complutense University of Madrid and Our Lady of Remembrance College. The recorded working language is Spanish. The field of work recorded is literature, prose and detective literature. Employment is recorded with Alfaguara, Taurus and El País. Distinctions recorded are Premio de la Crítica Española, Premio Torrente Ballester and Prize of the critics of Madrid.

• Name — José María Guelbenzu • Born — 14 April 1944 • Birthplace — Madrid, Spain • Died — 18 July 2025 • Place of death — Madrid, Spain • Occupation — Writer, literary critic

Guelbenzu studied at the Colegio Nuestra Señora del Recuerdo, run by the Society of Jesus, and later enrolled at the ICADE business school and the Law School at the Complutense University of Madrid, though he left university in 1964 to dedicate himself fully to literature. His earliest publications appeared in literary magazines such as Signos, where he wrote film reviews, and Cuadernos Hispanoamericanos, where he published poetry. His first book was a poetry collection, but he focused mainly on novels throughout his career. In 1967, he was a finalist for the Premio Biblioteca Breve with his debut novel, El mercurio. He worked for the magazine Cuadernos para el Diálogo, contributed to numerous literary journals and newspapers, and was co-director of the Cine-Club Imagen in Madrid. He served as editorial director at Taurus (1977–1988) and Alfaguara (1982–1988). After 1988, he devoted himself exclusively to writing. Guelbenzu was a regular contributor to the Opinion and Culture sections of the newspaper El País, and a literary critic for its supplement Babelia. In 2001, he published the first of his crime novels featuring judge Mariana de Marco, No acosen al asesino. He had expressed the desire to write ten books in the series. Guelbenzu was married to Ana Rosa Semprún, a publisher and general director at Espasa Calpe. He died on 18 July 2025, at the age of 81.

• Espectros, la casa antigua (1967)

• "Hogar eventual" (1967), in Cuadernos Hispanoamericanos • "La donna de otoño" (1967), in Cuadernos Hispanoamericanos • "La mosca de Funchal" (1992), in Una infancia de escritor (1997) • "Recuerdo una vez en Argüelles" (1997), in Urogallo: Revista literaria y cultural

• El mercurio (1968) • Antifaz (1970) • El pasajero de ultramar (1976) • La noche en casa (1977) • El río de la luna (1981) • El esperado (1984) • La mirada (1987) • La tierra prometida (1991) • El sentimiento (1995) • Un peso en el mundo (1999) • La cabeza del durmiente (2003) • Esta pared de hielo (2005) • El amor verdadero (2010) • Mentiras aceptadas (2013) • Los poderosos lo quieren todo (2016) • En la cama con el hombre inapropiado (2020) • Mediodía en el tiempo (2023) • Una gota de afecto (2025)

• No acosen al asesino (2001) • La muerte viene de lejos (2004) • El cadáver arrepentido (2007) • Un asesinato piadoso (2008) • El hermano pequeño (2011) • Muerte en primera clase (2011) • Nunca ayudes a una extraña (2014) • El asesino desconsolado (2017) • O calle para siempre (2019) • Asesinato en el jardín Botánico (2022)