In sixteenth-century Spain, a cabin boy sets sail on a ship bound for the New World. An inland expedition ends in disaster when the group is attacked by Indians.The Witness explores the relationship between existence and description, foreignness and cultural identity.Juan Jose Saer was born in Argentina in 1937 and is considered one of Argentina's leading writers of the post-Borges generation. He died in 2005.

A serial killer has brutally murdered 27 elderly women in the Bastille area of Paris. Every victim seems to have invited the killer into her home, to have enjoyed a meal, even a celebration before her death. In Argentina, meanwhile, an untitled manuscript by an unnamed author is discovered amongst the papers of a missing poet, known for his hatred of the novel. The Investigation is both a crime novel and a journey into the psyche of horror. It shows Saer at his very best.