On the day they were going to kill him, Santiago Nasar got up at five-thirty in the morning to wait for the boat that would bring the bishop.

Thus begins "Chronicle of a Death Foretold," the most "realistic" of all of Márquez's novels, as it is based on a true event that happened in Colombia.

A few hours after his wedding to Angela Vicario, Bayardo San Román sends the bride back to her family because he found her dishonored. After forcing her to confess the name of her lover, her brothers set out to kill him to restore their family's honor.

But why, when everyone knows what the two brothers are going to do, does no one stop them? Twenty-seven years later, a man returns to the scene of the crime, trying to unravel the mystery. And, as the story unfolds, the moment comes when not the two murderers but an entire society must be judged...