In Mexico in 1943, handsome rogue Ulises Linares must flee from the sons of an angry widow he nearly scammed. He’s been struggling since the death of his father, who had not only the good looks required for romance scams, but the brains to know how to avoid trouble. Although Ulises far prefers large cities, he heads to the small, middle-of-nowhere town of Puerco Ahogado, Veracruz. Far from the men pursuing him, he figures it will be easy to fleece a lonely spinster, Perla, and move on. Things do not go according to plan. Perla turns out to be a far cry from the pushover he’d imagined, and her orphaned, bastard niece, Ines, is determined to find a way to leverage Ulises to get enough money to start a new life independent of her overbearing aunt.
Silvia Moreno-Garcia is best known for her previous novels Mexican Gothic and Velvet Was the Night. Like those, this book is filled with interesting characters who have plenty of secrets, which give it many interesting twists, and prevent it from falling into melodrama or stereotypes. It also reminded me of why I’d never want to live in a small town: it may look friendly and civilized on the surface, but dig a little deeper, and things can get dark.
The Intrigue is a light, entertaining read. Even though they behave abominably in many ways, Moreno-Garcia manages to make us root for both Ulises and Ines. (And even feel a touch of sympathy for Aunt Perla.) She has also done a wonderful job of giving readers a true sense of Mexican village life in the 1940s.
[This book review first appeared in the Historical Novel Society’s August 2026 book reviews section.]
