Meet Maria de Arrocha, a woman with a dark secret in the Detective Emilia Cruz novel NARCO NOIR, coming 16 April:

Juan Miguel steered Emilia across the living room to the sofa where a slender woman, obviously Maria de Arrocha, sat cradling a cast on her right arm. Lola bounced on the cushion next to her mother.

“Tío Juan, we’ve been waiting for you.” Maria was lovely, with translucent skin stretched tight across her cheekbones. Her deep brown eyes needed no makeup and long chestnut hair fell over one shoulder. The combination wasn’t quite enough, however, to distract from a puckered scar that pulled down one corner of her mouth.

“See, Mami!” Lola hugged her mother in delight. “I told you he came.”

“Maria, may I introduce Emilia?” Juan Miguel asked, setting both plates of food on the coffee table.

“Of course.” Maria shushed Lola and made her daughter sit quietly. “Welcome.”

Despite obviously genuine pleasure at meeting a new guest, Maria’s smile was painfully lopsided and revealed a missing tooth on the same side as the scar.

“I didn’t mean to intrude on a family gathering,” Emilia said. “But Juan Miguel--.”

“Nonsense,” Maria said firmly. “It’s so nice to finally meet you. Please forgive me if I don’t get up.” Her left hand fluttered in a gesture of apology.

“Mucho gusto.” Emilia stooped to give Maria the traditional greeting of a kiss on the cheek, and touched the other woman’s shoulder in the process. It was like grasping a brittle twig.

DUBLIN TRILOGY Book 1: THE MAN WITH ONE OF THOSE FACES by Caimh McDonnell

Author Vee James gifted me this book and a tip of the hat to him. THE MAN WITH ONE OF THOSE FACES launches McDonnell’s Dublin Trilogy about the very funny, yet seriously intriguing misadventures of Paul Mulchrone, Brigit Conroy, and Garda detective Bernard “Bunny” McGarry.

Don’t worry if you have never been to Dublin, because by the end of all of the books, you will be intimate with the city and its people, plus the law enforcement powers and politics of the Garda, the national police agency.

The unique sport of hurling. Shopping on Grafton and Carroll. The restorative powers of Irish whiskey and Guinness beer.

Step up to the bar and drink deeply.

Paul had a rough start in life. He was orphaned at a young age, and his only stability was the hurling club presided over by Bunny McGarry, the larger-than-life cop with his own definition of justice. Now an adult, Paul is trapped by a will awarding him a subsistence stipend as long as he does charity work.

He regularly visits a nursing home to fulfill the requirements but one day a resident mistakes Paul for someone else and tries to kill him before dying of shock. When the dead man is found to be a gangster thought to be long dead, Paul and Brigit, a nurse, are targeted by the gangster’s old enemies. Bunny McGarry, who has a soft spot for Paul from hurling club days, makes things worse.

The mix of white knights and black sheep throws gray shadows on many of the characters in the Dublin Trilogy while relationships develop in smart and clever ways. But the real charm of this series lies with dialogue and descriptions, both of which evoke some real laugh-out-loud moments. There’s a line about anybody who could “cut two holes in a tea cozy thought he was John Dillinger” that still makes me laugh at odd moments.

THE DAY THAT NEVER COMES and LAST ORDERS are the next two books in the trilogy, and should be read in order. ANGELS IN THE MOONLIGHT is a prequel that is nonetheless listed on Amazon as #3 in the 4-volume set. The numbering is just one of the quirks of this well-written, funny, and breathlessly paced series.

Highly recommended.Get THE MAN WITH ONE OF THOSE FACES on Amazon: http://mybook.to/faces

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