Death at the Pier - A Lupita Morales Mystery

Nico Fonseca was nine years sober. He was terrified of the ocean. He couldn’t swim.

So when the young sous-chef is found dead under the Santa Monica Pier, with alcohol in his blood, nobody can explain why he went down to the water in the middle of the night. The police close the case in nine days: a drunk who fell.

His brother doesn’t believe it. Neither does Lupita Morales.

The stubborn taco-truck grandmother from Boyle Heights goes undercover as a dishwasher in the glamorous restaurant at the end of the pier. Behind its glass walls and celebrity chef, she finds a kitchen hiding stolen passports, unpaid workers and a frightened señora who knows who brought Nico his last drink.

With her grandson, her rival-turned-friend Tony, a homeless veteran named Sarge, and advice from her best friend behind prison walls, Lupita follows the truth from the back of the kitchen all the way to the cold, black water under the pier.

A warm, gripping mystery about justice, recovery and the people nobody sees.

Author: Juan Coss