Velvet Was the Night

1970s, Mexico City. Maite is a secretary who lives for one thing: the latest issue ofSecret Romance. While student protests and political unrest consume the city, Maite escapes into stories of passion and danger.

Her next-door neighbor, Leonora, a beautiful art student, seems to livea life of intrigue and romance that Maite envies. When Leonora disappears under suspicious circumstances, Maite finds herself searching for the missing womanand journeying deeper into Leonora's secret life of student radicals and dissidents.

Meanwhile, someone else is also looking for Leonora at the behest of his boss, a shadowy figure who commands goon squads dedicated to squashing political activists. Elvis is an eccentric criminal who longs to escape his own life: He loathes violence and loves old movies and rock 'n' roll. But as Elvis searches for the missing woman, he watches Maite from a distanceandcomes to regard her as a kindred spiritwho shares his love of music and the unspoken loneliness of his heart.

Now as Maite and Elvis come closer to discovering the truth behind Leonora's disappearance, they can no longer escape the danger that threatens to consume their lives, with hitmen, government agents, and Russian spies all aiming to protect Leonora's secretsat gunpoint.

Velvet Was the Nightis an edgy, simmering historical novel for lovers of smoky noirs and anti-heroes. (From Del Ray)

Velvet Was the Night is on theCanada Reads2022 longlist.

Silvia Moreno-Garcia is a Canadian writer born and raised in Mexico. She's the author of novelsMexican Gothic,Gods of Jade and Shadow,Signal to Noise,Certain Dark ThingsandThe Beautiful Ones. She has previously won the Goodreads Readers Choice Award and the Copper Cylinder Award.

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