Death doesn't take a break, even after a pandemic.When PI Yolanda Ávila stumbles onto a bloody murder scene, she's thrust into a race against time to save two innocent men: Gamaliel Campamoche, an undocumented immigrant facing deportation, and his employer Kinji Abe, a WWII American concentration camp survivor.The investigation pulls Yolanda and her diverse team into the dark corners of a changing city, where real estate sharks circle neighborhoods and activists harbor secrets of their own. As she peels back layers of deception, she discovers how greed and desperation can turn neighbors into enemies-and enemies into killers.As the case escalates, so do the dangers. And so does the juju that Yolanda thought she'd left behind. The protective spirits of Yolanda's mother and uncle seem to be stirring again, sending warnings she can't ignore. With the body count rising, Yolanda must separate truth from illusion before another life is claimed.A Yolanda Ávila Mystery. Verónica Gutiérrez is a former community organizer, civil rights attorney, municipal employee, non-profit leader, and corporate executive. She draws from years of experience in those worlds for her writing. Verónica was born and raised in Boyle Heights, the Los Angeles neighborhood that her protagonist, Yolanda Avila, P.I., calls home. Verónica and her wife Laura split their time between Los Angeles and San Francisco. Both are home bar enthusiasts and avid travelers. They host cocktail-lesson-themed fundraisers-called Mixology on a Mission-to help Los Angeles non-profits grow their donor base. Verónica published My Little Black Cocktail Book, a journal to organize her research and help others do the same. Some of the recipes she collects make it into her writing. Former LAPD cop-turned private investigator Yolanda Ávila.
