Seven bodies end up in a restaurant freezer in this fast-moving, multilayered mystery.
Mexico’s Finest, a restaurant in Smelton, Illinois, is a popular spot for locals. But this changes when it becomes the scene of a gruesome crime where seven workers are shot dead and stacked in the freezer. Why would a local eatery become the site of such carnage? Retired detective Bruce Mitchel is about to find out.
When Bruce encounters Louie Hernandez, the youngest son of the owners of the Mexico’s Finestfranchise, he can tell that he holds the key to a deeper story. While his family has always been solid, Louie spent his life making mistakes in pursuit of more—which is probably why Bruce meets him dying in the hospital from multiple gunshot wounds. His greed and poor decision-making are at the center of what happened here.
As the details unfold regarding Louie’s misadventures, his connection to the murders starts to emerge. There was much more taking place at the restaurant than met the eye. In addition to making burritos, employees were entangled in money laundering and drug trafficking schemes, culminating in the horrible event. What Bruce doesn’t anticipate uncovering is how the drugs and murders involve his family personally. His brother Danny, a manager at the restaurant, holds an important key.
An entertaining mystery with a good Old Hollywood feel, it’s reminiscent of James Ellroy’s LA Confidential—except, of course, it’sset in Chicago in the 1990s. The story jumps in time with the Hernandez family’s history and Louie’s shocking past before shifting to the employees about to meet their tragic end. It’s riddled with enough secrets in the past to complicate the present and accentuate the intrigue of the mystery all the more.
The structure adds real value to the story, but it’s true that the jumping around early on can make it hard to follow. But the author hits his stride in just a few chapters, and the classic mystery fun takes over in a hurry.
Some scenes veer away from the primary plot, like when Bruce is pursuing the grisly murders of local children and when Lou is with a woman named Roxanne. There’s interest in the Roxanne story, but with how much time is spent there and a mystery to get back to, it feels like something for another book. The local children story is shocking and attention-grabbing, but it also provides a pretty unpleasant visual that sticks out because it doesn’t have much to do with the plot.
The murder mystery of it all is undeniably captivating. We’re on the edge of our seats with Bruce’s investigation, and when it focuses in on what’s important, it’s a mystery where you can’t help but fly through its pages. There’s enough originality in here—mixed in with that classic feel you’re seeking—to satisfy fans of the genre.
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