Chosen by President Obama for his Summer 2022 Reading List: From the New York Times bestselling author of Mexican Gothic comes a 'delicious, twisted treat for lovers of noir' (Simone St. James) about a daydreaming secretary, a lonesome enforcer, and the mystery of a missing woman they're both desperate to find.

Mexico in the 1970s is a dangerous country, even for Maite, a secretary who spends her life seeking the romance found in cheap comic books and ignoring the activists protesting around the city. When her next-door neighbor, the beautiful art student Leonora, disappears under suspicious circumstances, Maite finds herself searching for the missing woman-and journeying deeper into Leonora's secret life of student radicals and dissidents.

'An amazing writer' S.A. Cosby, bestselling author of Blacktop Wasteland and Razorblade Tears

Mexico in the 1970s is a politically fraught land, even for Elvis, a goon with a passion for rock 'n' roll who knows more about kidney-smashing than intrigue. When Elvis is assigned to find Leonora, he begins a blood-soaked search for the woman-and his soul.

'A page-turning read full of colour and action' THE INDEPENDENT

Swirling in parallel trajectories, Maite and Elvis attempt to discover the truth behind Leonora's disappearance, encountering hitmen, government agents, and Russian spies. Because Mexico in the 1970s is a noir, where life is cheap and the price of truth is high.

Velvet Was the Night: an edgy, simmering historical novel for lovers of smoky noirs and anti-heroes.