Silvia Moreno-Garcia describes her latest novel, The Intrigue, as “a sultry 1940s noir about a con artist who meets his match.” Its leading man, Ulisses, has charmed women out of their money by letter for years — until he crosses paths with a sharp young woman who sees through his scheme and wants in.
It’s the eleventh book in a remarkably prolific decade for the author of Mexican Gothic and The Daughter of Doctor Moreau. The Intrigue, she says, was inspired by “vintage lonely-hearts ads along with modern romance scams, costumbrista novels, noirs, and Mexican soap operas,” and is one for fans of The Postman Always Rings Twice and Mildred Pierce.
Born in Mexico and now based in Canada, Moreno-Garcia was well into her career when Mexican Gothic became a 2020 bestseller — and success hasn’t reshaped her. “I’m not a people person, so I’m not naturally inclined to hang out with any human beings at all,” she admits.
Her taste runs to the atmospheric and the transgressive — the kind of book that, as she puts it, “burns more hotly than many a sex-heavy book” without spelling everything out. It’s the same register she chases in her own writing: sultry, sharp, and a little dangerous.
