The Intrigue
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- Pre-Order
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- Expected Jul 14, 2026
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- $13.99
Publisher Description
From the New York Times bestselling author of Mexican Gothic and Velvet Was the Night comes a sizzling noir about desire, danger, and greed, in which seduction is the ultimate con.
“Lush and passionate with magnetic prose . . . The Intrigue will grab you by the throat and not let go until its earth-shaking finale!” —S. A. Cosby, author of King of Ashes
A MOST ANTICIPATED BOOK OF THE YEAR: The New York Times, People, Book Riot, Southern Living
Handsome con artist Ulises has long charmed lonely women via letters in order to steal their money, but money is hard to come by in 1940s Mexico. Ulises knows his looks won’t last forever, and he’s desperate to get his hands on a real fortune.
He thinks he’s found it when he captivates his newest correspondent, Perla, the owner of a small-town boardinghouse in picturesque Veracruz. But when he meets her, he finds something he didn’t expect. The woman has a niece, Inés, who is as observant as she is desperate to escape her aunt’s household.
When Inés discovers Ulises’s true intentions, she wants in on the scheme. They’ll convince her aunt that Ulises is a great catch, Perla will marry him, and her money will vanish. Easy, fast, and clean. But Perla is not the desperate, silly spinster Ulises imagines. She harbors secrets. And although Ulises does not believe in true romance, Inés is more alluring than he bargained for. Suddenly, a simple plan may become perilously complicated.
Venture into the streets of a small town where a patina of convention and good manners conceals a cauldron of avarice and lust.
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
This stylish 1940s-set crime thriller finds Silvia Moreno-Garcia tackling classic noir with confidence and flair. Charming con artist Ulises arrives in the small Veracruz town of Puerco Ahogado hoping to seduce wealthy boardinghouse owner Perla and make off with her money. Instead, he finds himself drawn into an increasingly dangerous scheme with Perla’s sharp-witted niece, Inés, who’s just as eager to cash in and get out as he is. As shifting loyalties, buried resentments, and unexpected attractions complicate everyone’s plans, Moreno-Garcia transforms the seemingly sleepy seaside town into a pressure cooker of gossip and class tensions. Filled with double crosses, forbidden desires, and characters whose ambitions outrun their common sense, The Intrigue ranks among Moreno-Garcia’s most irresistible novels.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Moreno-Garcia (The Bewitching) satisfies with this devilish tale of a con man in 1940s Mexico who meets his match in the niece of his latest victim. Fleeing a failed effort to con a widow, Ulises Linares arrives in Veracruz at a boarding house owned by Perla Inclán, an older woman with whom he's been corresponding. Upon arrival, Ulises is both intrigued and disturbed by Perla's beautiful niece, Inés, whom Perla treats like a live-in servant. Inés is observant and wily, suspecting from the jump that Ulises has an ulterior motive in wooing her aunt. Ulises offers to share Perla's money with Inés if Perla agrees to marry him, but the plan goes awry when the duo discovers Perla is unwilling to cede control of her funds. As Ulises and Inés devise dramatic measures to get their way, their desire to rid Perla of her money wars with their reluctance to cause mortal harm. Moreno-Garcia keeps the power dynamics unstable in this deliciously dark thriller, with most of the characters concealing momentous secrets that inform their respective motivations. The resulting fireworks are difficult to look away from.
