Last year, a branch of Spain’s Women’s Institute listed Mola’s “The Girl,” a part of the trilogy, as one of the must-read books and films by women that “help us understand the reality and the experiences of women.”

Mola’s latest work, “The Beast,” is a historical thriller centered on the murder of children in Madrid during a cholera outbreak in 1834.

Except the writers spinning these tales were really Jorge Díaz, Agustín Martínez and Antonio Mercero — established Spanish television scriptwriters in their 40s and 50s.

“Carmen Mola is not, like all the lies we’ve been telling, a university professor,” Díaz said after winning the Planeta prize, the Financial Times reported. “We are three friends who one day four years ago decided to combine our talent to tell a story.”