--- description: Find out why 'The Shadow of the Wind' by Carlos Ruiz Zafón made the list. title: The Shadow of the Wind: The 100 Best Mystery and Thriller Books image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7aa202ec16a2e15d/698a407f16d8846b14c3c3d7/TheShadowOfTheWind.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 --- Oct 03, 2023 # The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafón by [TIME Staff](/author/time-staff/) ## TIME Staff Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close  In 1940s Barcelona, in the aftermath of the Spanish Civil War, 10-year-old Daniel Sempere is led by a local bookseller to a mysterious crypt called the Cemetery of Forgotten Books. The labyrinth is full of endangered titles likely to be stolen or destroyed. It’s here that Daniel is drawn to a rare and coveted copy of _The Shadow of the Wind_, authored by the elusive Julián Carax. The book leads him on an adventure to uncover the missing author’s tragic story and learn why his life and work is being systematically erased. [Carlos Ruiz Zafón’s](https://content.time.com/time/arts/article/0,8599,1907807,00.html "undefined") _The Shadow of the Wind_, published in Spanish in 2001 and translated to English by Lucia Graves in 2004, is the first of a tetralogy of socially critical works—_The Angel’s Game_ (2009), _The Prisoner of Heaven_ (2012), and _The Labyrinth of the Spirits_ (2018) round out the series—that defined the author’s influence on the genre before his death in 2020\. The quartet embodied the everpresent legacy of the war while critiquing the Spanish state’s history of silencing writers. The gothic mystery, notably endorsed as “the real deal” by [Stephen King](https://time.com/4929570/stephen-king-it-novel-time-cover/ "undefined"), has sold some 15 million copies across the globe. —_Armani Syed_ **Buy Now:** _The Shadow of the Wind_ on [Bookshop](https://bookshop.org/a/4973/9780143034902 "undefined") | [Amazon](https://amzn.to/47RS4b7 "undefined") ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"Article","@id":"https://time.com/collections/best-mystery-thriller-books/6309212/the-shadow-of-the-wind/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/collections/best-mystery-thriller-books/6309212/the-shadow-of-the-wind/"},"headline":"The Shadow of the Wind: 100 Best Mystery and Thriller Books","datePublished":"2023-10-03T11:50:10.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-03T00:20:24.488Z","description":"","url":"https://time.com/collections/best-mystery-thriller-books/6309212/the-shadow-of-the-wind/","keywords":["Books"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7aa202ec16a2e15d/698a407f16d8846b14c3c3d7/TheShadowOfTheWind.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"TIME Staff","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/time-staff/"}],"creator":"TIME Staff","articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7aa202ec16a2e15d/698a407f16d8846b14c3c3d7/TheShadowOfTheWind.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/collections/best-mystery-thriller-books/6309212/the-shadow-of-the-wind/","name":"The Shadow of the Wind: 100 Best Mystery and Thriller Books"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"How We Chose the 100 Best Mystery and Thriller Books of All Time","description":"Here's how TIME created its 100 Best Mystery and Thriller Books list. There are books from 15 different countries, and no author appears on the list more than once.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/bNzuDcsg/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2023-10-02T16:54:39.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/bNzuDcsg.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/collections/best-mystery-thriller-books/6309212/the-shadow-of-the-wind/","duration":"PT1M35S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/collections/best-mystery-thriller-books/6309212/the-shadow-of-the-wind/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```