Nazis, the Pope, and a Church: A Thriller Places Mallorca at the Center of the Plot

When Mallorca Becomes the Stage

Sometimes a single place is enough to tell many stories at once. In this case, it's a small church near Campos, not on any postcard, yet it became the setting for a 600-page crime novel. The author, photographer and essayist has never treated his island like a backdrop, but rather like a line of forgotten doors, behind which something still lurks.

What's it about?

On paper, a modern rat line meets Vatican secrets, old networks, and a mythical treasure. Sounds like Hollywood? Yes, a little. And that is precisely what the writer wanted: tempo, surprise, but also a sense that Mallorca is more than sea and sunshades. Narrative devices: short chapters, fast cuts — so the book reads like a film you can't put down on a too-hot September afternoon.

Why Sant Blai in particular? The Church of Sant Blai is, for him, a place of personal significance: over 18 years ago he married there. This familiarity shines through the scenes. The legendary catacombs that appear in the novel are an invention—but they work in the mind because the author knows the setting: the dusty paths around Campos, the sea in the distance, the conversations with locals.

Historical facts surface, institutions are often real, but characters and many details are fictional. That creates tension without slipping into crude imitation. And yes: even the Pope makes a brief appearance, incognito to heighten the drama. If readers roll their eyes while reading, they'll quickly get a scene that sets things straight again.

Characters and Motives

At the center is a self-made billionaire from the tech or startup world: rich, restless, and carrying a trauma in his pocket. He surfaces with a submarine in search of sunken relics, seeks meaning, and finds responsibility. It’s a classic character — just with a modern suit and digital scars.

Beyond the action, the author remains an essayist: he threads tight, concise sentences as readers know from his columns. The result is a crime novel that feels locally rooted yet poses international questions: guilt, forgetting, power.

The book was published in late 2024 by Edition WinterWork (paperback, 598 pages, about €19). The author is already working on a new story that will explore the darker sides of the pharmaceutical industry. So if on your next stroll around Sant Blai you start paying closer attention, don't be surprised — the island has more stories than most people think.