The Intrigue
From the New York Times bestselling author of Mexican Gothic and Velvet Was the Night comes a sizzling noir about desire, danger, and greed, in which seduction is the ultimate con.
Handsome con artist Ulises has long charmed lonely women via letters to steal their money, but money is hard to come by in 1940s Mexico. Ulises knows his looks won’t last forever, and he’s desperate to get his hands on a real fortune.
He thinks he’s found it when he captivates his newest correspondent, Perla, the owner of a small-town boardinghouse in picturesque Veracruz. But when he meets her, he finds something he didn’t expect. The woman has a niece, Inés, who is as observant as she is desperate to escape her aunt’s household.
When Inés discovers Ulises’ true intentions, she wants in on the scheme. They’ll convince her aunt that Ulises is a great catch, Perla will marry him, and her money will vanish. Easy, fast and clean.
But Perla is not the desperate, silly spinster Ulises imagines. She harbors secrets. And although Ulises does not believe in true romance, Inés is more alluring than he bargained on. Suddenly, a simple plan may become perilously complicated.
Venture into the streets of a small town where the patina of convention and good manners conceals a cauldron of avarice and lust.
Published by Del Rey (USA)/Arcadia(UK)
Jul 14, 2025
ISBN 9780593874356
Praise
Moreno-Garcia has ventured into historical noir before with her excellent Velvet Was the Night (2021), and with her new novel, she shows that she’s still comfortable probing the darkness in people’s souls: Ulises is a fascinating antihero, with a charm that belies his amorality. The three principal characters, who each get alternating chapters, are drawn beautifully, and Moreno-Garcia’s slow reveal of their motivations is executed well. This is yet another rock-solid novel from a born storyteller. Clever, taut, and just flat-out fun.
—Kirkus
From its expertly evoked settings to its flawlessly paced plot, everything about Moreno-Garcia’s latest exudes noir at its very best.
—Library Journal, starred review
Moreno-Garcia keeps the power dynamics unstable in this deliciously dark thriller, with most of the characters concealing momentous secrets that inform their respective motivations. The resulting fireworks are difficult to look away from.
—Publishers Weekly
Shifting points of view keep all three main characters in a morally gray area, and well-drawn secondary characters add texture and occasional humor. Give to fans of Dashiell Hammett and Raymond Chandler, as well as readers of more contemporary noir novels such as Aravind Adiga’s The White Tiger (2008) or Eileen (2015) by Ottessa Moshfegh.
—Booklist, starred review
Lush and passionate with magnetic prose, The Intrigue takes up the mantle of noir classics like Double Indemnity or Black Wings Has My Angel, and reinvigorates the genre with a new perspective. Silvia-Moreno Garcia writes with the soul of a sensualist and the eye of a practiced observer of human nature. The Intrigue will grab you by the throat and not let go until its earth-shaking finale!
—S. A. Cosby, New York Times bestselling author of King of Ashes
Silvia Moreno-Garcia has a great gift for making you cheer for things you shouldn’t, and The Intrigue is no exception. As the deception and the bodies mounted, I increasingly rooted for this Bonnie and Clyde to get away clean with the loot. Do they? Read and find out; you won’t be sorry!
—Kate Quinn, New York Times bestselling author of The Alice Network