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Desert Roses
Paperback
Mystery & ThrillerGeneral FictionGeneral GLBTQIA Fiction
Publisher: Brin Raven Publishing
Published: Nov 29 2025
Pages: 278
Weight: 0.72
Height: 0.63 Width: 5.50 Depth: 8.50
Language: English
Two women. One deadly enemy. And a town where girls keep disappearing.
1949, Taos, New Mexico. LucÃa Torres and Luz Morales fled Los Angeles to escape the violence that nearly destroyed them. They came to the high desert seeking peace-and found a nightmare instead. Young Hispanic women are vanishing without a trace, and the local sheriff doesn't care enough to investigate.
When Don Tomás Archuleta's granddaughter MarÃa becomes the latest to disappear, he turns to the only people willing to help: two women with nothing left to lose and everything to prove. What begins as a simple missing person case unravels into something far more sinister-a human trafficking network reaching from Taos to Juárez, protected by money, power, and men who treat women as inventory.
But LucÃa and Luz aren't just any investigators. They're hardened by their past, deadly when cornered, and willing to cross every line to bring the missing girls home. As they dig deeper into Taos's dark underbelly, they build an unlikely family: Paloma, the fierce Apache bartender; Carmen, the cantina owner with her own scores to settle; Antonio, the honest cop who risks everything to help them; and a network of chosen family who understand what it means to survive in a world that wants them invisible.
Then LucÃa recognizes a name from the past-Mitchell, the fixer who murdered her partner in El Paso and escaped justice. He's running the trafficking operation, and this time there's nowhere left for him to run. The hunt becomes personal. The stakes become fatal. And LucÃa must decide how far she'll go for vengeance... and whether justice and survival can ever be the same thing.
A hard-boiled detective noir set in the American Southwest, Desert Roses is the second book in the Torres & Morales Investigations series. Featuring bisexual and lesbian protagonists, authentic 1940s historical detail, and unflinching exploration of violence against women, this LGBTQ+ mystery thriller delivers Raymond Chandler-style prose with a queer Chicana twist. Perfect for readers who love strong female leads, polyamorous representation, and detective fiction that doesn't pull its punches.
Content notes: This book contains explicit violence, sexual content, descriptions of human trafficking, attempted sexual assault, and strong language. Intended for mature readers
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