Mexico City in 1835 is a lawless place, teeming with bandits & beggars. Here Benjamin January and his new bride pray they'll find Hannibal Sefton alive-and not already at the end of a hangman's rope. But when t hey arrive at Hacienda Mictlan they encounter a murky tangle of family relations, a local police force hostle to free people of color and more than one suspect. As Mexico's holy Days of the Dead approach, time is running out. For a killer is ready to strike and plans to add them to the already swelling ranks of the deceased....
Interesting, good research. January leaves New Orleans and goes to Mexico to clear his friend Hannibal from a murder charge.
Hambly has a unique talent of being able to transport the reader to the time and place of her choosing. Well written plot, believable characters and a story that flows well.
Another of Hambly's amazingly atmospheric mysteries, not to mention it's dense with historical detail about Mexico in the 1830s. Plus you also get some cool lectures from Don Prospero about the ancient Aztec gods. I liked that we get to travel away from New Orleans, and although Benjamin and Rose still have to be careful, they are not in quite as much danger here as in America. The family tree in the front helped a lot with the tangled relationships. I could see Ben's plan to persuade the villain to tell all coming from a long way off, but it was still fun to read, and there were some revelations at the end that surprised me. I didn't guess the murder method either, although Hambly left us some clues.
Seventh book in the Benjamin January series.
