A Death in Mexico
In San Miguel de Allende, a city in old Mexico, a young artist’s model is murdered, her mutilated body dumped in a public square. Inspector Hector Diaz has several problems on his hands: he must solve the murder, and, to do so, since the victim was an American, he needs to penetrate the close-knit, secretive community of American expats living in the Mexican city, not to mention feeling the pressure of being the lead detective on a high-profile case with international press attention. The author doesn’t shy away from the notion that Diaz’s job would be a lot easier and much less high-profile if the dead girl had been Mexican—the themes of race and relations between Mexicans and American expats are central to the book. Aided, or at least not hindered too much, by his moderately incompetent police colleagues and wrestling with his own demons (he’d much rather be out of the spotlight, in bed with his occasional girlfriend or having a nice drink or handling his usual assortment of minor crimes), Diaz pieces together the mystery, even as the investigation takes him deeper into darkness. Gritty to the point where you want to wash your hands, the novel is highly recommendable to readers of contemporary noir. --David Pitt