Mexico\u2019s Finest, <\/em>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.\u00a0<\/p>\n When Bruce encounters Louie Hernandez, the youngest son of the owners of the Mexico\u2019s 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\u2014which 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. \u00a0<\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n As the details unfold regarding Louie\u2019s 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\u2019t anticipate uncovering is how the drugs and murders involve his family personally. His brother Danny, a manager at the restaurant, holds an important key.\u00a0<\/p>\n An entertaining mystery with a good Old Hollywood feel, it\u2019s reminiscent of James Ellroy\u2019s LA Confidential\u2014<\/em>except, of course, it\u2019sset in Chicago in the 1990s. The story jumps in time with the Hernandez family\u2019s history and Louie\u2019s shocking past before shifting to the employees about to meet their tragic end. It\u2019s riddled with enough secrets in the past to complicate the present and accentuate the intrigue of the mystery all the more.<\/p>\n The structure adds real value to the story, but it\u2019s 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.\u00a0<\/p>\n 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\u2019s 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\u2019t have much to do with the plot.<\/p>\n The murder mystery of it all is undeniably captivating. We\u2019re on the edge of our seats with Bruce\u2019s investigation, and when it focuses in on what\u2019s important, it\u2019s a mystery where you can\u2019t help but fly through its pages. There\u2019s enough originality in here\u2014mixed in with that classic feel you\u2019re seeking\u2014to satisfy fans of the genre.<\/p>\n The post Mexico\u2019s Finest Murders by Michael Frank Hemphill<\/a> appeared first on Independent Book Review<\/a>.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Seven bodies end up in a restaurant freezer in this fast-moving, multilayered mystery. Mexico\u2019s 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 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6233","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-bookreviews"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6233"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6233"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6233\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6233"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6233"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6233"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}