Stay on the edge of your seat with these Latino crime thrillers and mysteries!   Trust Me By Richard Z. Santos Charles O’Connell is riding an epic losing streak. Having worked in politics since college, he is used to losing races, but he never imagined that his most recent candidate would end up in jail and that he would also need an attorney. His euphoria at not joining his boss in prison is short-lived—no one will hire him now, his credit cards are maxed out and his marriage is on the rocks. An unexpected offer to work in Santa Fe, New Mexico, doing public relations for a firm building the city’s new airport feels like an opportunity to start fresh and make connections with powerful people out west. But when the construction crew unearths a skeleton, Charles’ fresh start turns into another disaster. Soon, a group of Apache claims the …

Denver-based mystery wins award in home state  HOUSTON, TX June 2014—A thriller with a bit of Chicano flair, Desperado: A Mile-High Noir by Manuel Ramos has won the 2014 Colorado Book Award for Best Mystery given by the Colorado Humanities. Since its founding in 1974, Colorado Humanities has inspired the people of Colorado to share and apply the wisdom and inspiration of the humanities and to appreciate the state’s diverse cultural heritage. Each year, Colorado Humanities provides opportunities to more than 200,000 people to enrich individual lives and inform the community experience. In Manuel Ramos’ return to crime fiction, his protagonist Gus Corral can’t quite believe it when Artie Baca, an old high school buddy he hasn’t seen in years, asks him for help. He’s being blackmailed because of an imprudent fling—caught on video, of course. Artie has a prosperous real estate business and can afford to pay off the …

HOUSTON, TX June 2014—Three titles published by Arte Público Press were honored at the 16th annual International Latino Book Awards ceremony held during the American Library Association’s annual conference on June 28, 2014, in Las Vegas, Nevada. The awards honor literary excellence in a variety of categories and are sponsored by Latino Literacy Now, a non-profit organization that supports and promotes literacy and literary excellence within the Latino community. Our Lost Border: Essays on Life Amid the Narco-Violence, edited by Sarah Cortez and Sergio Troncoso, won First Place in the Best Spanish or Bilingual Latino Focused Nonfiction Book category. This collection contains personal essays in English and Spanish that deal with the impact of drug violence on people living along the Texas-Mexico border. Desperado: A Mile-High Noir, by author and attorney Manuel Ramos, won an Honorable Mention in the Best Mystery Novel category. Ramos returns to novel-length crime fiction with …

HOUSTON, TX March 2014—Three titles published by Arte Público Press were nominated as finalists in the 16th annual International Latino Book Awards sponsored by Latino Literacy Now, a non-profit organization that supports and promotes literacy and literary excellence within the Latino community. Our Lost Border: Essays on Life Amid the Narco-Violence, edited by Sarah Cortez and Sergio Troncoso, is a collection containing personal essays in English and Spanish that deal with the impact of drug violence on people living along the Texas-Mexico border. It is a finalist for the Best Spanish or Bilingual Latino Focused Nonfiction Book. Desperado: A Mile-High Noir, by author and attorney Manuel Ramos, is a finalist in the Best Mystery Novel category. Ramos returns to novel-length crime fiction with a down-on-his-luck protagonist, Gus Corral, who is caught up in an investigation of the murder of an old high school friend, Artie. An investigation into Artie’s involvement in …