by Jane Rosenthal
Publisher: She Writes Press
Pages: 245
Format: book
Buy the Book: Amazon
Goodreads: Del Rio, California, a once-thriving Central Valley farm town, is now filled with run-down Dollar Stores, llanterias, carnicerias, and shabby mini-marts that sell one-way bus tickets straight to Tijuana on the Flecha Amarilla line. It’s a place you drive through with windows up and doors locked, especially at night—a place the locals call Cartel Country. While it’s no longer the California of postcards, for local District Attorney Callie McCall, her dying hometown is the perfect place to launch a political career and try to make a difference.
But when the dismembered body of a migrant teen is found in one of Del Rio’s surrounding citrus groves, Callie faces a career make-or-break case that takes her on a dangerous journey down the violent west coast of Mexico, to a tropical paradise hiding a terrible secret, and finally back home again, where her determination to find the killer pits her against the wealthiest, most politically connected, most ruthless farming family in California: her own.
Kritters Thoughts: District Attorney Callie McCall has quite the past before this book even begins, but with the discovery of a body part of a young teen found in citrus groves, this story quickly moves to Mexico and an investigation begins as Callie gets to the bottom of things.
For me the most interesting part was how involved Callie's family and friends were on the wrong side of the law in this book. This felt unique to this book as rarely does the family of the person investigating end up fully entrenched into the misdeeds.
I don't know if I am unfamiliar with the area or with the crisis at the border, but there were many times where I felt disconnected to the book and was confused and lost. I blame myself and my own lack of knowledge on the immigrant population and the issues that are happening and I think that affected my reading of the book. I was having a hard time putting all the pieces together and because of this the book didn't read as smoothly as I think it should have.
Jane Rosenthal has another book in her backlist and it seems to take place in the same location and I would like to try it out and see if I could enjoy it more after getting myself up to speed.
Rating: enjoyable, but didn't leave me wanting more
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received one copy of this book free of charge from Sparkpoint Studio. I was not required to write a positive review in exchange for receipt of the book; rather, the opinions expressed in this review are my own.
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