Set high in the Peruvian Andes during the years of the Shining Path insurgency, Death in the Andes begins with the disappearance of three labourers from a remote road-building camp.

Two civil guards attempt to uncover what happened, but every explanation—political violence, local superstition, ancient ritual—seems equally plausible. Vargas Llosa gradually dissolves the distinction between crime novel, political history and myth, creating a world where terror is both modern and primordial.

Winner of the 1994 Planeta Prize, the novel is one of Vargas Llosa's darkest works, examining the psychological consequences of civil conflict alongside the persistence of indigenous cosmologies that sit uneasily beside the rational state. Rather than offering a straightforward mystery, it explores fear, violence, desire and collective belief, asking what happens when official explanations fail to account for lived reality. Essential reading for those interested in Latin American literature, political fiction and novels where folklore and history become impossible to separate.

Faber & Faber hardcover, first UK edition, 1996, translated by Edith Grossman. Light shelf wear with minor rubbing to the extremities of the boards. Binding is firm and the interior is clean and unmarked.