The holiday of Cinco De Mayo, The 5th Of May, commemorates the victory of the Mexican militia over the French army at The Battle Of Puebla in 1862. It's primarily a regional holiday celebrated in the Mexican state capital city of Puebla and throughout the state of Puebla, with some recognition in other parts of the Mexico, and especially in U.S. cities with a significant Mexican population. It's not, as many people believe, Mexico's Independence Day, which is actually September 16.
Last year I blogged about Cinco de Mayo Mysteries. I added a few titles, but I thought I'd run the post again with a few additions for those who missed it...or won't take the extra step to click. :-)
This list is supplemented with Mexican mystery writers and books set in Mexico. Let me know any titles you think should be included.
Add to your Cinco de Mayo reading pleasure with a Mexican Chocolate Celebration. Check out my other Blog, Dying for Chocolate, for recipes and suggestions of great Chocolate for Cinco de Mayo. Entrees, drinks and desserts and more desserts. I've also posted several recipes for different versions of Mole Poblano and Mexican Chocolate Truffles (including Tequila Truffles).
Cinco de Mayo Mysteries:
The Cinco de Mayo Murder by Lee Harris
A Corpse for Cuamantla by Harol Marshall
Cinco de Mayo by Michael Martineck (science fiction/but cross-over)
The Bane of Cinco de Mayo by Nathan S. Mitchell
The Cinco de Mayo Reckoning by Terry Money
Not meaning to be complete in any way, I put together a few titles by Mexican authors or mysteries set in Mexico or related to the Mexican experience in some way (but not to Cinco de Mayo).
Mexican Crime Writers:
Paco Ignacio Taibo II The Uncomfortable Dead (and numerous other novels)
Read an interview with Paco.
Eduardo Monteverde
Juan Hernandez Luna
Hardboiled fiction on the Mexican-American frontier:
Gabriel Trujillo Munoz-known for his science fiction and literary criticism, also writes detective fiction: Mesquite Road, Tijuana City Blues
Carlos Fuentes: Cabeza de la Hidra (The Hydra Head)
Joaquin Guerrero-Casaola: The Law of the Garrotte
Rolando Hinojosa: Partners in Crime, Ask a Policeman
Want to find out more about Mysteries in Mexico. Read G.J. Demko's Landscapes of Crime.
Lucha Corpi, Guest blogged on: La Bloga on Chicana Crime Fiction: Where to?
Mignon G. Eberhart. Wings of Fear takes place in Mexico City.
Read an essay by Jennifer Insley "Border criminals, border crime: hard-boiled fiction on the American Frontier in Confluencia: Revista Hispanica de Cultura y Literatura
YA Literature? You Don't Have a Clue: Latino Mystery Stories for Teens, edited by Sarah Cortez (Arte Publico Press)
Interested in Crime for the Holidays? Check out Mystery Readers Journal, Volume 25:1.
And a fun fact: Five most popular Tequilas in the U.S.
1. Jose Cuervo
2. Patron
3. Sauza
4. Herradura
5. Cabo Wabo
4 comments:
Ummmm, how about it's my birthday and you read my mystery, Downsized To Death?
No? Yes?
Thanks for the book suggestions too.
Patg
www.patgulley.com
Bravo, Janet for an excellent overview of the Cinco de Mayo holiday via books published about this Mexican holiday. A second round of thanks for mentioning the YA anthology "You Don't Have a Clue," which contains my short story "The Red Lipstick." It's a great read edited by Sarah Cortez.
Lucha Corpi has written some interesting mysteries with her Gloria Damasco series (Death at Solstice, Black Widow's Wardrobe) and is often ignored as a Chicana writer. Although I am not a fan of the extrasensory, she handles the detective's "dark gift" well in my opinion. Like Colin Cotterill, she integrates it skillfully. Also had the pleasure of meeting her at a panel at the Oakland PL and she is both delightful and an entertaining speaker!
Hi Janet,
Just wanted to let you know that I have an ongoing series of mysteries set in Mexico. In the first one, counterfeit Mayan ceramics provide a motive for murder in the expat community in the upscale town of San Miguel de Allende. Artist Paul Zacher, his Mexico City girlfriend, Maya Sanchez, and their retired homicide detective friend, Cody Williams, join forces to ferret out a murderer in their midst. TWENTY CENTAVOS is the first of eleven mysteries. Print, Kindle, Nook, and Kobo editions.
www.sanmiguelallendebooks.com/twentycentavos.html
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