Lauded Spanish female crime writer revealed to be three men - CNN

The description for Mola on the website also contains a series of photographs of an unknown woman looking away from the camera.

In previous interviews with Spanish media, Martínez, Díaz and Mercero had presented Mola as a female university professor who lived in Madrid with her husband and children.

Mola's novels usually revolve around the character of detective Elena Blanco, described by publisher Penguin Random House as a "peculiar and lonely woman" and a lover of "grappa, karaoke, collectors' cars and sex in SUVs."

However, the book that won the Planeta prize was not a story featuring Blanco.

It is a historical thriller called "The Beast" set during a cholera epidemic in 1834 and centers around a serial killer who is hunted down by a journalist, a policeman and a young woman.

The Mola novels are well known for being gory and graphic -- and Spanish media has noted in the past that the contrast between Mola's supposed life as a married university professor and the violent nature of the books served as a useful marketing tool.