Set in the City of Barcelona in the mid-19th century, the novel The soul of the murderer weave a historical-criminal plot of a crime befallen in the bosom of a wealthy family and the experiences of certain historical charac...

Set in the City of Barcelona in the mid-19th century, the novel The soul of the murderer weave a historical-criminal plot of a crime befallen in the bosom of a wealthy family and the experiences of certain historical characters who are related to medicine, politics, religion and philosophy. In this context, the scientist Mariano Cubí i Soler (phrenologist, mesmerizer magnetizer and a prestigious linguist) try to prove that by studying the shape of the skulls, phrenology may become a decisive tool to solve the execution of a crime through the analysis of “animal propensity to destroy, murder, exterminate and infer punishment” of human beings, or in other words: “the killer instinct of criminals”.