Death at Solstice: A Gloria Damasco Mystery (review)

Lucha Corpi's new Gloria Damasco mystery novel, Death at Solstice, is a riveting detective narrative composed of seven chapters, an introductory section, and an epilogue. The author introduces the reader to private investigator Gloria Damasco in a suspense-filled first episode in which an abusive husband breaks into his ex-wife's house with intentions of doing bodily harm. In these first pages, we witness Damasco at her best, getting the upper hand on the intruder-husband, Carl Salvatierra, taking away his weapon and having him arrested. Gloria is a cool, intelligent, and very professional detective, indeed. From this initial introduction to the P.I. protagonist, the reader is set to enjoy the assignment which immediately follows: she is hired by Lula Marie Aríztegui from the Oro Blanco Winery and twin sister Estefanía to solve the mystery of stolen jewelry. The investigation of a stolen pair of expensive emerald and diamond earrings leads Gloria into the wine country setting of the California Shenandoah Valley and to a series of murders and deaths.

The title of the novel, Death at Solstice, provides an important clue for the reader regarding what will transpire later at the annual festival of the Solar-Lunar Midsummer celebration in Watsonville, California, at the edge of Pinto Lake, and that the series of clues planted in previous chapters bear fruit. Damasco, as those who have followed her in Eulogy for a Brown Angel (1992), Cactus Blood (1995), and Black Widow's Wardrobe (1999) know, is a clairvoyant detective whose visions and dreams/nightmares provide clues that eventually aid her in solving the murder(s) she is investigating. It is no different in Death at Solstice, for her dreams and visions lead her to Lake Pinto, where she is able to rescue a toddler and a kidnapped woman as well as witness the tragic murder-suicide of the lovers Aster Cellier and Sal Gallardo. Via this tragic denouement, she is able to solve other crimes.

Corpi's mystery novel is brilliantly crafted and incorporates what I call "aesthetic activism" within its plot. Aesthetic activism denotes the use of beauty in the skillful crafting and incorporation of social justice issues in a work of art. This Chicana author's novel is impregnated with Mexican American history as it relates to the conquest of the West by Anglo-American society. Joaquín Murrieta, who figures prominently throughout the novel as the "Ghost of Sonora" (a ghost rider who appears at night in the California Central Valley of Amador County), represents the search for social justice by the Mexican American people. Equally important is the issue of undocumented immigration—in this case immigrant Mexican women who have been smuggled into the country and held as prisoners in a remote house where they are forced to sew garments for upscale clothing companies. The social justice issues and historical dimension featured throughout the novel's pages add depth and breadth to Corpi's fascinating narrative.