The Small Hours

When Michael Virtue learns his close friend and colleague, Mason, is dead, he is deeply shaken, and when his wife and children leave only days later, he is thrown asunder. First come obsessive memories of his failure on a trip he took to solve the mystery of his uncle, Robert, presumed lost in the Spanish Civil War; then, he is inexplicably drawn to Mason's enigmatic girlfriend, Delia, whom he'd never met before Mason's death. Who is this woman and why, after she appears at his home one evening, does he find himself "married" to her, and on a flight to Spain with forged passports? Immediately, their time in Spain is full with involvements and events both complicated and difficult; Michael finds a friend, Maria del Carmen; Delia finds a lover, both struggle. Delia is clearly running from something dire. Michael can see only his quest. Separate paths take them to a juncture outside the village of La Jolla de Malaga where Michael and Delia reach respective resolutions.

Will Michael solve the mystery of his Uncle Robert's disappearance? Will Delia continue running and, should she? Will Maria del Carmen and the villagers of La Jolla de Malaga prevail in the covert continuation of the erstwhile civil war, or will the evil that lingers decades after any civil war ostensibly ends, proceed unchecked?