A Holy Virgin who appears in Mexico is dedicated to the overthrow of the corrupt and tyrannical PRI. And a woman who claims to be the Virgin’s sister brings San Diego private investigator Alvaro Hickey a chance to help reform the country of his birth.
THE VAGABOND VIRGINS, Baja California, 1979.
A Holy Virgin, or a convincing fraud, who appears in Mexico is dedicated to the overthrow of the corrupt and tyrannical Partido Revolucionario Institutional. And a woman who claims to be the Virgin’s sister brings San Diego law student and private investigator Alvaro Hickey a chance to help reform the country of his birth.
Alvaro's got personal reasons for helping exquisite, cultured, and other-worldly Lourdes Shuler find her "sister." And his motives for helping defeat the PRI go so deep, they override the danger of challenging a power that, if he includes all the cops and bureaucrats on their payroll, must be at least a million strong, plus the foreigners, whoever invests in Mexico and depends upon deals made with the PRI. Vast corporations, half the world’s governments, drug cartels, and maybe the Catholic church.
Of all the scrapes Alvaro has gotten into, including the Vietnam war, this one looks the most gnarly.
Excerpt
"He stopped for the light at 1st Street and spotted the woman in the green hat. She was under a street lamp near the side entrance to the depot, standing only a couple arms' length from two hookers. EIther she was tough or naive.
"She appeared not much shorter than Alvaro's five feet and ten inches. Her Kelly green had featured a wide, flat brim. She had wound her honey brown hair into a loose bun that rested on her long neck. She wore large, round glasses tinted yellow, a modest white blouse, and a yellow unbuttoned sweater with a green pleated skirt that fell just below her knees. The bare legs were the same color as her face, the brown of cafe con leche. Her waist was just slender enough to complement the generous hips and full breasts. She carried a large embroidered canvas purse on a shoulder strap, and listed to the side where the purse hung, as if it weighed plenty."
Professional Reviews
from Library Journal
The Vagabond Virgins:
In 1979, Alvaro Hickey is hired to find Lourdes Shuler's missing sister, Lupe, who may or may not be the Holy Virgin who is appearing to Mexican peasants and advising them on how to vote in the upcoming elections. Soon a Mexican policeman has killed people across the border, and Alvaro and Lourdes are on the run. This fifth entry in the Hickey family mysteries (The Loud Adios; The Venus Deal; The Angel Gang; The Do-Re-Mi ) features the same original plots and memorable characters that make Kuhlken's series so outstanding.
from Publishers Weekly
The Vagabond Virgins:
In Kuhlken’s engaging fifth novel featuring the eccentric Hickey family (after 2006’s The Do-Re-Mi), San Diego PI Alvaro Hickey investigates potential corruption in the 1979 Mexican election. On the eve of the election, Hickey is contacted by the young and beautiful Lourdes Shuler, who hopes Hickey can locate her missing twin sister, Lupe. Hickey learns that Lupe is believed by the poor throughout Baja California to be the Holy Virgin come to earth to cause uproar before the elections. Lourdes also tells Hickey that she believes that Lupe killed their father, a right-wing German émigré with powerful connections to the Mexican government. Soon it becomes a race against time as Hickey and Lourdes head to Mexico to find Lupe before the federales can. Kuhlken easily blends adventure with a classic PI staple: the appearance of an alluring woman, full of secrets. Fans of the Hickey clan will undoubtedly enjoy this south-of-the-border installment. (Feb.)
from Harriet Klausner Reviews
Superb Hickey Family Thriller:
Lupe Garcia travels to rural areas claiming to be a virgin angel in 1979 Baja Mexico. She quotes scripture and pleads with children to tell their parents to vote against the corrupt tyrannical Partido Revolucionario Institucional (PRI) in the upcoming election.
Lupe's younger sister Lourdes fears that the PCI will kill her sibling, whom she has not seen since their father threw Lupe out of their home years ago. She needs to warn Lupe that the PRI is seeking Lupe to prevent her from causing them problems. To find her sister she hires law student and private investigator Alvaro Hickey because she heard he is not afraid to break the rules. He thinks his client is the VAGABOND VIRGIN angel and she has no sibling; he also wonders if she killed her father as the PRI suspect as she took gold bricks worth a fortune. Now the PRI, her brother and much of Mexico search for the sleuth and the younger sister while the duo searches for the older female sibling, who has been captured by the PRI.
The latest Hickey Family thriller (see The Angel Gang for one of dad's tales and The Do-Re-Mi for the son's first solo) is a superb look at the immigration issue circa 1979 (pre Reagan "amnesty" and no nebulous link to 9/11 to obfuscate the issue). Violence and corruption at the California-Mexico border makes for a dangerous MZ yet that stays in the background as the fast-paced story line contains deep characterizations, a trademark of Ken Kuhlken's Hickey historicals. This powerful exciting drama will leave the audience thinking beyond the inane sound bite solutions of politicians and extremists to ponder how to realistically deal with a complex issue with ramifications hitting all aspects of society.
While trying to make it big on Broadway, dancer Abby Fouchet finds herself falling in love, falling in rehearsal (!), and trying to outwit a clever killer out to destroy the man she loves.
Book eight in my Belinda Lawrence Classic Mysteries. Mysteries confront amateur sleuths, Belinda Lawrence and Hazel Whitby in the Somerset village of Milford.
Among the eccentrics is the shadowy Madam Malefic.
