For readers, Sunday VillarInspector Leo Caldas will forever remain in the living room of his Vigo apartment. In the third and final episode of the noir series starring the lean, sharp detective, Mónica dozes on the sofa after solving Andrade’s disappearance case, The Last Ship. On May 18, 2022, a stroke cut short the life of the Vigo-born writer at age 50, taking with him a trove of stories that would never reach print. Even as he left a posthumous gift, he began a new novel when death surprised him: Síbaris, a theatrical comedy due next fall, which underlines Villar’s versatility beyond his breakout novel Villar. Ollos de auga translates to Ojos de agua and has already become a bestseller, while his final published work in life was the short story collection Some Complete Stories (2021).
Publishers Francisco Castro, director of Galaxia, and Ofelia Grande, director of Siruela, which publish Villar’s works in Galician and Spanish respectively, agree that the Vigo writer’s critical and popular success rests on extraordinary literary quality. Castro notes, Villar is a great writer. Today there are no dark novels in Galicia or the province that match the level of his work in the noir arena, where a web of crooks and cunning plots keeps readers turning pages. The city becomes a character, and the plots feel alive in the hands of a master of the craft. Castro emphasizes how the universe he built around Inspector Leo Caldas, his Galician sensibility, and the city of Vigo has resonated with readers across continents.
Castro highlights the enduring world he created around Leo Caldas and the spirit of Vigo, a setting that reached readers across the globe. The editor and author notes that Villar’s talents have earned him millions of readers from diverse linguistic backgrounds, all drawn to the same core: a precise, atmospheric police drama braided with local color.
His early death left a defining voice of full creative maturity from Galician literature. Castro recalls feeling a moment of anticipation for Leo Caldas’s next chapter, only to be reminded that Villar’s pen would pause forever. He praises Villar as a “master of the word,” a meticulous observer who lets his plots unfold at a deliberate pace, weaving suspense with a quiet intensity.
Anna Soler-Pont, director of the Pontas literary agency, calls Villar a must-read author. The message is clear: support his work through reading, recommending, purchasing, and distributing his titles to keep his voice alive.
Villar was among the first writers to publish novels simultaneously in Galician and Spanish. Spanish editor Ofelia Grande, director of Siruela, confirms Villar’s continued vitality and his presence in bookstores. She notes that Villar’s crime stories are enriched by high literary quality and strong plots, yet he transcends the detective genre, appealing to readers of many tastes.
That appeal helps explain why editions move hundreds of thousands of copies in Spanish and why Galician editions consistently lead sales in their market. Distributors report significant demand year after year, a testament to the enduring appeal of Villar’s settings and characters.
Xurxo Patiño of the Vigo Librouro bookstore observes that Villar’s readership continues to grow. He calls Villar one of Spain’s finest novelists, noting that while productivity waned late in life, the characters Villar created—such as Inspector Caldas and his loyal aide—made a lasting impression. Vigo.
According to bookstores, Villar’s titles remained among the top sellers at the peak of his career and have only grown in demand since his passing. A bookseller states Villar was consistently among the best-selling Galician authors, a status amplified by his death.
Reading Leo Caldas’s adventures invites readers to wander the streets of Vigo, to trace its estuary and feel the temperament of its people. That sense of place adds value to Villar’s work, according to Vigo-based writer Pedro Feijoo, who regards Villar as both a reader and a model for his own writing. Feijoo believes the city owes Villar a large debt for putting Vigo on the literary map, noting that many cruise passengers now follow in Caldas’s footsteps.
The author of Un fuego azul concedes that Villar shaped half of his career and suggests bestsellers set in Vigo have a ready audience. Feijoo is among the fortunate readers who enjoyed Villar’s posthumous Síbaris, a work written in the decade between La playa de los ahogados and El último barco. The work, though posthumous, is described as sharp, funny, and lucid, reaffirming Villar’s mastery of language and his resolve to excel.
The last Novel and Film Noir Congress in Salamanca featured Villar as a key figure, including documents from the not-for-sale Wordmaster Siruela collection, assembled by Carlos Baonza and others, alongside texts by Francisco Castro, Carlos Zanón, Alexis Ravelo, and Villar’s wife Beatriz Lozano. Villar earned the Pata Negra award for The Last Boat at this event in 2019.
Carlos Blanco to Star in Síbaris
With Síbaris, the literary legacy of Domingo Villar nears its final curtain, following the writer’s stroke at the height of his craft. The work is expected to appear simultaneously in Galician (Galaxia) and Spanish (Siruela), aligning with Villar’s usual publishing pattern, on September 20. The cast already signals strong interest, led by actor Charles White. His representative notes that the work was completed before Villar’s passing and he was deeply excited about it.
Síbaris is not a crime novel nor a straightforward drama; it is a theatrical comedy. Yet it preserves Villar’s distinctive voice: a restrained, calm style that threads together a playful yet piercing look at literature and the world that surrounds it. Early readers describe the posthumous work as witty, lucid, and sometimes brutally honest, with writers’ passions, fears, and paranoias woven through its pages.
The production centers on Carlos Blanco, a newly minted author who once faced a long creative block and is now stepping into the spotlight. The piece is currently in mid-production and will premiere next fall in Vigo, in Galician, before touring Galicia and then reaching Madrid in Spanish. Team.