THE INTRIGUE

A desperate con man does his best to get a big score.

Ulises Linares is hard up. The 29-year-old con artist, living in World War II–era Mexico City, is down to his last few pesos, three years after his father and partner in crime died following a long illness. What little cash he’s able to bring in comes from postal scams—he corresponds with women who are willing to send him cash in the belief that he’s a Prince Charming who will someday sweep them off their feet. He decides he needs a bigger score and writes to a woman in her 40s named Perla Inclán, responding to an ad she’d placed in the lonely hearts section of a magazine. Ulises travels to the town of Puerco Ahogado in Veracruz to stay at Perla’s guesthouse, and senses a spark: “Even though she had the faint air of a Mother Superior at a convent, when he smiled that devilish smile of his, he saw in her eyes that her interest was piqued.” Unfortunately for Ulises, Perla’s niece, Inés, learns about his plan, and—desperate to make a life of her own away from her controlling aunt—demands to be included in the con, insisting that should Ulises get his hands on the money, she’ll take half of it. But it soon becomes apparent that Perla isn’t the easy mark Ulises and Inés had hoped. Moreno-Garcia has ventured into historical noir before with her excellent Velvet Was the Night (2021), and with her new novel, she shows that she’s still comfortable probing the darkness in people’s souls: Ulises is a fascinating antihero, with a charm that belies his amorality. The three principal characters, who each get alternating chapters, are drawn beautifully, and Moreno-Garcia’s slow reveal of their motivations is executed well. This is yet another rock-solid novel from a born storyteller.

Clever, taut, and just flat-out fun.