Velvet Was The Night by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

Moreno-Garcia is becoming a favorite.  I like two earlier books (this, this), so I was eager to read her latest.

Velvet isn't anything like her earlier fantasy works.  The new story is definitely Noir.  Realistic, gritty, life in Mexico City in the 1970s.  No magic here.

The story isn't quite the classic Noir, because there is no PI, no last honest man, no knight in rusted armor.  Just ordinary people.

 Protagonist Maeta is a struggling secretary, with a bit of a fantasy life but not much else.  Protagonist Elvis is a thug, with a bit of a fantasy life but not much else.  The rest of the city is a mess.

Maeta agrees to take care of her neighbor's cat for a few days.  But Leonora doesn't return as promised, so Maeta sets out to find her (and get the money owed her).  Other people are looking for Lenora, and it turns out that the spoiled rich kid is involved with student leftists and connected with a art collective.  It would be smart to walk away, but Maeta doesn't.

Elvis is employed by a rich man as part of a private gang.  He is sent to break heads at a student protest, which turns violent and deadly.  In the aftermath, he's sent to find Leonora who may have incriminating photos.  Elvis begins to worry that he is another loose end that will be disposed of soon.  It would be smart to walk away, but Elvis is an honorable man so he doesn't.

It's a dangerous and murky time.  Nothing is easy, everyone is hiding something, and there are dangerous forces at work. The problems of two little people don't amount to a hill of beans. But the Maeta is determined, and Elvis is driven.

This is a really great story.  And if "realism" is 180 degrees from "fantasy", then this book is the opposite of Moreno-Garcia's other stories I've read.  Apparently, she can write all kinds of stuff.

Now I really have to read whatever she comes up with next.

  1. Silvia Moreno-Garcia, Velvet Was The Night, New York, Del Rey, 2021.

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