SUGAR SKULL, by Denise Hamilton

2/series. Continuing the series starring gutsy, intrepid LA Times reporter Eve Diamond (and her enviable though disastrous love life), this novel examines life in the Mexican immigrant community. As with all Hamilton's novels, they are populated with excellently-drawn characters with complex and believable lives. There's an old saying in the crime bizniz: there's always an earlier crime. Hamilton is adept at bringing past and present together. Sugar Skull takes its name from the Day of the Dead candies that many Mexicans adore. The next novel in the series is Last Lullaby, then comes Savage Garden and Prisoner of Memory (Russian immigrants; a really chilling, complex tale). I read them non-stop and was glad I did it. This is a heroine I don't get tired of. Give them a 5! And give me more, more, more! www.denisehamilton.com