by Colm Tóibín
First published 2018
Delfina and María de Jesús González control a brothel in a Central Mexican town during the 1960s. The sisters, called Las Poquianchis, force young women into prostitution through kidnapping, drugs, and violence. Their victims endure brutal conditions and dream of freedom they cannot reach. When bodies surface in the brothel's backyard, the full scope of the González sisters' crimes becomes clear. Jorge Ibargüengoitia tells this story through the dry language of police documentation, creating a narrative that balances dark humor with genuine horror. The book examines how ordinary evil operates in small places, revealing the human cost of the sisters' business through the voices of those who investigated their murders.
Genres: fiction, historical-fiction, 20th-century, mystery, crime, dark
Vibes: dark, emotional, thought-provoking
Tropes: dark-subject-matter, gritty, true-crime
Setting: Central Mexico
Period: 1960s
192 pages · Paperback · Picador
Content warnings: abuse, kidnapping, physical-abuse, sexual-assault, violence