Velvet Was the Night by Silvia Moreno-Garcia is a character-driven mystery set in Mexico City in the 1970s, amid student protests and cold war espionage. Maite, a self-described spinster at age 30, is intrigued by the disappearance of her glamorous neighbor, Leonora, and begins to investigate. Elvis, a gangster who hates violence, is also searching for Leonora, for mysterious reasons, and gets caught up in observing Maite’s life. The plot is as intriguing as the two main characters are compelling.