Velvet Was The Night by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

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Set in 1970’s Mexico City, Maite spends her days as a secretary and her evenings alone with her favorite serial romance comics. As the city becomes consumed with student protests and political unrest, Maite escapes into her romances and crafting tales of a glamourous, but non-existent, love life to regale her co-workers with. When the glamorous and beautiful Lenora moves in next door, Maite is both intrigued and extremely put out by her request to watch her cat while she’s away for a few days. When Lenora doesn’t return on time, and with Maite’s payment, Maite has no choice but to track her down and collect the money owed to her. 

What she doesn’t expect is to cross paths with a hitman who is also looking for Lenora and get drawn into the darker side of politics and dirty government officials. But Elvis isn’t just any goon, he’s a man tired of violence and wants nothing more than a life outside of crime. 

Both Elvis and Maite are complex and intriguing characters. I found Maite very hard to like which made reading her character even more enjoyable. She was prickly, obsessed with the characters in her comics, and felt she was immensely better than the people around her. She constantly lied about her personal life, had a difficult relationship with her family, and was also a petty thief who regularly stole from her neighbors. It’s very, very hard to like or relate to someone like that but I found her absolutely fascinating. Add in a mob henchman who is obsessed with Elvis Presley, rock and roll, and is an avid reader, you get a fascinating combination of characters. The mystery behind Lenora, her identity and her disappearance, was really well done and I loved how Maite’s obsession with her drove the story.   

Engrossing, thrilling, and filled with complex and interesting characters, Velvet Was The Night is a dark historical that will keep you guessing with every twist and turn.  

Thank you to Netgalley and Del Rey for the opportunity to read and review this title. All opinions and mistakes are my own. 

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