After adoring Mexican Gothic, I needed to read more Moreno-Garcia right now immediately. Along with my burgeoning favoritism towards the Gothic genre, noir/mafia stories have been making my heart go pitter patter, so picking up Velvet Was the Night was an easy choice.

Set in 1970s Mexico City, Velvet Was the Night runs on parallel plot lines and switches between two POVs. First, we have Maite, a respectable secretary/typist and closet romantic, who hoards records, Secret Romance comics, and her neighbors’ knick-knacks. Burrowing her head in the sand of art, she can stave off the hopelessness of the political turmoil surrounding her. Elvis, meanwhile, has no choice but to be in the thick of it. Kicked out of multiple homes, he poses as a budding communist student and snitches on leftist political activities for the government-backed mafia. After Matie’s neighbor Leonora disappears during a political uprising, Elvis and Maite’s separate worlds clash in the most unexpected ways. The characters launch separate investigations into Leonora disappearance, careening closer and closer to easy liars and horrible truths.

At first the nature of Elvis’ work repulsed me, but I grew to love him as his limited choices became clearer. Plus, it’s hard to dislike a guy who learns a new word every day and can beat up cops, haha. Both of Moreno-Garcia’s protagonists are precious, beautiful, and flawed. The interplay of their investigations made the mystery all the more tantalizing. Because the two heroes don’t meet until very late in the book, scenes gain an additional, gasping tension. How will Maite react when she finds out such-and-such about Elvis? How will Elvis feel about Maite’s decision here? The pair’s idiosyncrasies match up so nicely that my heart about burst with the swooning romance. I’ve seen these sort of techniques in movies, where the viewer waits the whole film for an explosive meeting of two characters, but never witnessed it before in fiction. Exciting!

Moreno-Garcia’s character work is far from the only captivating element. I knew approximately zilch about 1970s Mexican politics, but I never felt lost. The atmosphere is smoky, gritty perfection, and I felt I learned emotional truths about the era, if not solid facts. For that, Moreno-Garcia offers a helpful note on the novel’s historical details in the back matter. The pace is fairly quick, which suits the genre, but the story doesn’t feel rushed at all. The audiobook performance is stellar, making it easy to gobble up the book.

Overall, Velvet Was the Night is a highly enjoyable noir adventure, with intriguing story, literary techniques, and characters. Do recommend!