When businessman Carl Perreira disappears during his vacation in Mexico, it's his loyal assistant Gloria who makes call after call to find out what happened. After all, she's been secretly in love with him for years.

When she's told that Carl has died in a car accident, it's Gloria who tries, to no avail, to track down the next of kin or a copy of Carl's will. And it's Gloria, heartbroken, who finally decides to journey across the border herself to retrieve his body.

But the deeper into the desert she travels, the more shocking the discoveries she makes. About Carl. About herself. And about how elusive and dangerous the truth can be.

"Offbeat…seductive…hypnotic."-The New York Times Book Review

"A slow-burning, sunbaked noir treat."-Entertainment Weekly

"Pitch-perfect prose…a helluva debut."-Toronto Globe and Mail