“I SEE a fly. A fly doesn’t exist, fluttering in front of my left eye. And I like saying it that way, almost a declaration of principles; I, Ines Experey, see a fly.”

This is how Time of the Flies (Charco Press) by Argentinian writer Claudia Pineiro begins. The novel delves into female friendship, motherhood, and the boundaries of crime fiction, taking it to new heights.

It features flies in various forms and intersperses the main narrative with a chorus of female voices in the Greek tradition of Euripides’ Medea. These voices debate concepts of maternity, sexuality, human relationships and feminism.