Female Spanish Mystery Writer Revealed to be Three Men

Posted on October 17, 2021

Spanish mystery author Carmen Mola is actually a pseudonym used by a group of three male writers. The truth was revealed after Carmen Mola was the 2021 Premio Planeta de Novela prize for the book, La Bestia (The Beast). The prize carries a 1 million Euro prize.

The authors have also been using a fake profile for Carmen Mola to communicate with the press. The site used by Carmen's agent Hanska shows a woman in several photos but her face is not visible. The Guardian reports that the name Carmen Mola translates roughly as "Carmen's cool."

The use of a pseudonym or pen name by others is often fascinating to readers. In this case it was three people using one pseudonym. One of the authors told El Pais that they were hiding behind a name not a woman. However, their agent's website shows them using the female images. The mystery novel covers for Carmen Mola all show reddish symbols and flies.

Agustín Martínez, Jorge Díaz and Antonio Mercero revealed themselves to be the writers behind the Carmen Mola novels as the award ceremony. Here's video footage of the three authors receiving the award.