No one weeps for me now

Ramirez again combines a taut thriller plot with a searing portrayal of Nicaragua and elements of magical realism with the brilliant second volume of his Managua Trilogy (after The Sky Weeps for Me). Former Sandinista guerrilla Dolores Morales's career as a police inspector ended after his successful pursuit of drug kingpins angered powerful government officials. Now a private investigator, he's summoned by wealthy banker Miguel Soto Colmenares, whose stepdaughter Marcela, a recent college graduate, has disappeared while shopping with some friends. Soto hires Morales to find Marcela, but limits his brief to just locating her, and not figuring out what happened and why. As Morales makes the most out of the scant leads, aided by an eccentric group of allies including the ghost of his deceased partner, Lord Dixon, he finds evidence of a cover-up that once again finds him stepping on some influential toes. Ramirez vividly depicts the mean streets and peppers the perfectly hardboiled crime saga with wonderfully strange details, such as a man "carrying an Uzi as if cradling a doll." Readers will eagerly await the conclusion. (Nov.)

Has the missing stepdaughter of a wealthy businessman been kidnapped, or has she fled a perilous home life? The middle volume of the author's Managua Trilogy, following The Sky Weeps for Me (2020), introduces famous Nicaraguan detective Dolores Morales via his Wikipedia page. Though he works now as a private investigator, Morales still carries the honorific title Inspector, as everyone addresses him. His longtime sidekick, Bert "Lord" Dixon, tartly advises Morales in italics even though he happens to be dead. Lord Dixon also visits other members of Morales' ragtag team, just to provide pithy commentary. Morales is hired by wealthy, shady Miguel Soto Colmenares to find his missing stepdaughter, Marcela. Kidnapping is suspected, but there's been no ransom demand, and Soto is leery of calling police because of the attendant publicity. Ramírez's shaggy plot frequently wanders down colorful bypaths and takes readers hooked by his MacGuffin through a fun house of Nicaraguan locations and people. Foremost among these are the skeletal Rev. Úrsula, who, along with sidekicks Rambo, Magic Johnson, et al., runs the Tabernacle, a sanctuary she inherited along with her title from Rev. Joshua, her late husband; and Marcela's friend Frank, fired by Soto after oversharing with Morales. Ramírez habitually tags minor characters with handles from pop culture, like SpongeBob and Justin Bieber. What makes his novel a page-turner is not its plot twists but the delightfully unique individuals Morales encounters in his probe. A playful crime yarn that lands like Raymond Chandler reimagined by Almodóvar. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.