The latest addition to my website is Luis Felipe Fabre‘s Declaración de las canciones oscuras (Recital of the Dark Verses). Saint John of the Cross/San Juan de la Cruz was a sixteenth century mystic and was revered by many but not well liked by the religious authorities because of his piety and asceticism. He had been travelling around, ending up in a monastery inUbeda, where he died. This novel is about what happened next, as a bailiff and two stock not very bright men head to Ubeda to get his remains to take back to Segovia. However, their journey, mainly at night , is full of surprises with strange creatures and strange events , with Fabre skilfully mixing the humorous and ribald with both reference to St John’s now famous religious verses, often about darkness (both spiritual and physical) and mockery of both relic hunters and our three not so brave emissaries.