Daniel Balmaceda faces the challenge of recreating a real murder in Buenos Aires in 1880.

The New Year's Crime (Sudamericana) is the latest novel by historian , writer and journalist Daniel Balmaceda , who last year published the fiction The Knights of the Night (Sudamericana), after a large number of titles dedicated to different figures and curiosities linked to the history of the country or its figures, such as Stories of the Argentine Belle Époque (Sudamericana, 2022); Belgrano, the Great Argentine Patriot (Sudamericana, 2019) or Stories of Steeds and Steel. From 1810 to 1824 (Sudamericana, 2017), among many others.

During the research for the previous novel, Balmaceda came across some of the information and characters that ultimately formed part of the story now being published . In both cases, the narrative is based on real events that occurred in Buenos Aires during the 1880s. However, they deal with different crimes, which are told from different angles.

According to Balmaceda, the work methodology was also different: “In terms of documentation, The Crime of New Year's Eve was undoubtedly more demanding,” explains the author. “ The case file on which it was based was considerably smaller than the case that gave rise to The Dark Knight , so I had to put much more effort into reconstructing the events, expanding on the sources and filling in gaps without straying from what was historically true.”

Based on a true crime story, Balmaceda reconstructs the story of three immigrants who arrived in Argentina and, like so many others of their time, live in conditions bordering on marginalization and overcrowding, barely supported by the precarious and unstable jobs they manage to secure. When one of them is found dead, intrigue takes over the story, prompting readers to continue reading without pause at the end of each chapter to discover the characters' fate.

“Narratively, it was also more complex,” the author continues. “ I sought to maintain an atmosphere of mystery in which the reader didn't know who was going to die or who was going to be murdered . That required careful handling of information, careful timing of clues, and a steady pace.”

–What was the main challenge when approaching the writing of the novel?

–Suspense was, without a doubt, the biggest challenge, because I often had to put myself in the reader's shoes to check if I was achieving the desired narrative tension. However, unlike my first novel, this time I felt more confident with the tone, style, and narrative delivery. In The Dark Knight, I took my first steps in fiction; here I already had more solid narrative ground under my feet.

–Was it already clear from the start what the fate of the protagonists would be?

–From the beginning, I clearly knew the outcome of the crime: I knew who the victim was and who the murderer was. That certainty allowed me to build the novel toward that point, although that didn't mean the characters were defined from the start. As the investigation progressed, they gained depth, contradictions, and nuances, and I was able to better outline their lives, their relationships, and their decisions. Even without initially knowing the entire structure, the story already had ingredients that made it a gripping detective novel. In fact, the beginning I had imagined ended up being located about halfway through the book. The plot found its own logic, and I adapted the story as I went. Therefore, even though I didn't know exactly how everything would end, that didn't worry me. As long as I remained faithful to the original file and historical sources, the protagonists would naturally guide me toward the solution. In my case, fiction is always at the service of the truth, not above it.

–What are the differences between writing history books and writing historical novels?

–The historical novel allows me a narrative depth that isn't always present in the purely historical books I've written. In my previous works, the stories were usually resolved in a few pages, with a limited development. A novel, on the other hand, demands the construction of a broader and more complex project, where every detail contributes to a larger structure. Especially in this case, where it's an unpublished story, barely mentioned in the press of its time. From the straightforward approach of historical books, what I miss is a certain freedom to discard or rearrange material: if a chapter doesn't fully convince me, I can set it aside and use it in a future project. In contrast, in the novel, once the direction is defined, the path is quite rigid; each chapter must clearly lead toward a resolution. My role doesn't radically change between that of historian and that of novelist. I've always been interested in recreating moments in Argentine history with a tone close to the literary. In fact, many of my historical books include fragments that border on chronicle. The greatest challenge is achieving a balance between historical accuracy and narrative tension, something I personally greatly enjoy. I feel especially comfortable when the story enters into conflict, when human and social tensions emerge strongly. And in New Year's Murder , those tensions appear before, during, and after the murder. There's no respite.

–What possibilities does a story offer with protagonists who are immigrants living precarious lives, something not so common when it comes to famous personalities?

This novel offers two deeply compelling dimensions. On the one hand, an original detective story, clearly announced in the title, where the tension lies not in discovering what will happen next, but in how the crime is committed and who will kill whom. On the other hand, a powerful social context emerges: the world of the immigrant, that universe of men and women who arrived in Buenos Aires with a suitcase full of uncertainty, passing through the Immigrants' Hotel, trying to build a new life from scratch. Many Argentine readers will recognize these stories as their own or familiar.

In the chapter called "In front of the Miró Palace", referring to a residential building located in the current area of ​​Tribunales, streets through which the protagonists of the novel circulate, Balmaceda mentions the crucial function that mutual aid associations played at that time for newly arrived Italian immigrants : "In addition to their key support, they reflected the divisions of a community that, although sharing origins, was still marked by the tensions of Europe. At the center of these discrepancies was the Unione e Benevolenza, founded in 1858 with a noble purpose: to provide medical and social assistance to Italians settled in the humble neighborhoods in the south of the city, such as La Boca and Barracas."

He tells Clarín : “When working with famous figures, the reader intuits part of the path traveled and easily guesses where the story might go. But in this case, with unknown Italian immigrant protagonists, everything is unpredictable. There's no prior map, which generates closeness and even greater suspense. This familiarity enhances the reader's empathy, because these lives could have been those of their ancestors. Their struggles, fears, and aspirations are echoes of voices Argentines have heard in family stories. Giving visibility to these forgotten or unknown stories has special literary and historical value .”

In one of the initial notes of the book, entitled “The story behind the novel,” the author warns: “Readers familiar with the city, its streets and its numbering system may have felt disoriented at some point (…) I have used the nomenclature and numbering in force in 1880 , the ones that the protagonists of this story knew.”

–What features of Buenos Aires in 1880 will readers of El crimen de Año Nuevo encounter?

–Buenos Aires in 1880 is exquisitely described in the novel, forming in many ways the basis of the city we know today. The port, the docks, the Hotel de Inmigrantes, the tenements, the unpaved streets, the fully operational Penitentiary... These are settings that, although distant in time, are not completely foreign to us. One of the most striking features is the coexistence of radically different social classes. In the novel, these micro-worlds appear coexisting on a single urban map, from the overcrowded tenements to the springtime strolls in Palermo. These scenes allow us to enter a harsh, raw, and unequal world.

–What advantages did the possibility of setting the novel in that setting offer?

–If I had to highlight a symbolic scene, I particularly enjoyed clearly reconstructing the walks through Parque 3 de Febrero: what one saw, how people dressed, the conversations and silences on benches and in carriages. That historical moment proved ideal for suspense and mystery, not only because of the population explosion and the dilemmas of an expanding city, but also because it connects with the narrative universe I already explored in The Dark Knight Rises. Although it's not necessary to have read that novel, both share a particular atmosphere, with a newly created police force and a gripping justice system in its initial unfolding.

Balmaceda narrates the events experienced by the protagonists during a day in which “A clear sky and a warm sun announced the arrival of spring ahead of time,” in a city that “came alive on September 19, and the streets were filled with country hats and umbrellas trying to mitigate the intensity of the rays. Thousands of visitors—on foot, by public or private transport—headed to Parque 3 de Febrero, the green lung of Buenos Aires , located three kilometers north of the center.”

As on so many other occasions throughout the novel, with the deployment of resources and data that he usually provides to his readers, the author delves into the emergence of the extensive park area as a "must-see for the people of Buenos Aires", on lands confiscated from Juan Manuel de Rosas, after his defeat in the battle of Caseros, on February 3, 1852, which gave it its name.

–Did this research provide any new information for an upcoming historical novel?

–Yes, as usual, while researching The New Year's Crime , unknown cases and characters emerged that sparked my interest. When I finish a book, I'm always already working on other projects. Currently, I have four or five books in various stages of development. The next one probably won't be a novel, although there's another crime story that really interests me. But this is the moment for The New Year's Crime . Every book has its own time, and the next one will wait in its turn.

The New Year's Eve crime will be presented on June 29 at 3:30 p.m. at the Immigrant Museum.