Fiction

Matches

A storm ignites a terrifying fire that burns the mountain and threatens the city of Split. The police is investigating the fire, believing they'll find negligence or a psychopath arsonist. But it soon turns out that the truth is much more complicated.

Novel parallelly follows the fate of a man who fights not to lose his own family's property. The fight for his grandfather's orchard led him to unwanted consequences.

Matches- the new novel by Jurica Pavičić, is at the same time a Mediterranean noir and a poignant family drama.

Atmospheric psychological crime novel which is not crime novel at all, but - as usually with this writer- complex social drama within the thrilling plot full of twists...

Gea Vlahović (Telegram)

Jurica Pavičić has writen another superb Dalmatian noir.

Laura Šiprak (Express 24sata, Croatia)

Paviči decently expresses empathy for people who have been forgotten.

Jadranka Pintarić (Jutarnji list)

...Author's best novel so far...

Željko Erceg (Dalmatinski portal)

"Matches" overcome the limitations of genre. The limitations of functional style, provincialism and localism, dependence on fabulation are still there. "Matches" are all that, but with a positive sign. The novel turns the limitations of genre, localism and plot into its advantage..."Matches" is a great novel, not only for the Croatian literature.

Dragan Jurak (Kritika h,d,p)

The Croatian storyteller confirms that he is a master of characters deeply rooted in the turbulent history of his country... "Matches" is his latest novel... and perhaps his best.

Bruno Menetrier (Actualite- les univers du livre, Francuska)

Powerful noir novel... impeccably crafted novel echoes the qualities found in "Red Water"...

Christine Ferniot (Liberation, France)

Jurica Pavičić is crafting a body of work of remarkable coherence. He possesses a uniquely keen eye and an art for portraying people with special attention to silences, atmospheres, the invisible traces of the past, and the timelessness of places and landscapes. There is a profound humanity in his writing—a blend of tenderness and unflinching clarity, as well as a melancholy—that calls to mind the work of the Swedish author Henning Mankell. And that is no small compliment!

Michel Abescat (Radio France)

With finesse and acuity, Jurica Pavičić offers us a new variation on his favorite theme: a ruthless X-ray of a corrupt country struggling to shake off the weight of its past.

Phillipe Blanchet (Le Figaro)

Matches—the fifth book by Jurica Pavicic to be translated into French—is striking for both the tension of its criminal plot and its vivid, unsettling portrait of a society gripped by corruption, widespread negligence, and anarchy.... Despite the bleakness of the narrative, the author refuses to succumb to despair; the final pages, offered with a knowing wink, serve as a tribute to the dignity and goodness of ordinary people.

Christian Authier (Le Figaro, 15.10. 2026)