A Venom Beneath the Skin: A Romilia Chacon Mystery (Romilia Chacon Mysteries) [Hardcover]

Marcos M. Villatoro (Author)

Book Description

Series: Romilia Chacon Mysteries | Publication Date: May 9, 2005

Detective Romilia Chacon is back again--and another serial killer is on her heels. She has gone from policewoman to FBI agent, but the move just might have put her into more danger.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Bilingual cop Romilia Chacón has a prestigious new job and a promising new locale—FBI special agent in the Los Angeles field office—in Villatoro's sexy, fast-paced and satisfyingly violent third mystery (after 2003's Minos). The step up from the Nashville homicide squad has been good for her, as has her steamy new romance with fellow agent Chip Pierce, whose vicious murder in his Venice home shortly after she leaves him late one night to mull over his marriage proposal sets off the action. Many clues point to the Guatemalan drug dealer known as Tekún Umán (the name of a Mayan warrior who fought the conquistadores), who has publicly declared his love for Romilia and helped her track down a killer in Minos. But for Romilia, the case is still wide open, and it's up to her to ferret out the connections among Chip's murder, a terrorist bombing of a crack house, religious fanatics and the vigilante murders of several drug dealers. The simmering tension between Romilia and her criminal admirer will leave readers eagerly anticipating the fourth book in this gritty procedural series.
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About the Author

Marcos M. Villatoro is the author of several books of fiction, poetry, and nonfiction. The Los Angeles Times Book Review named his nationally acclaimed Home Killings as one of the Best Books of 2001. It won the Silver Medal from Foreword Magazine and First Prize in the Latino Literary Hall of Fame. His other books include the Pushcart Prize nominee The Holy Spirit of My Uncle's Cojones (also an Independent Publishers Book Award finalist), They Say That I Am Two: Poems, the novel A Fire in the Earth, and the memoir Walking to La Milpa: Living in Guatemala with Armies, Demons, Abrazos, and Death.

After years of living in Central America, Marcos attended the Iowa Writers' Workshop. In 1998, he and his family moved to Los Angeles, where Marcos holds the Fletcher Jones Endowed Chair in Writing at Mount St. Mary's College. A regular commentator for National Public Radio's "Day to Day," Marcos also hosts a book show called "Shelf Life" for Pacifica Radio. --This text refers to the Mass Market Paperback edition.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 336 pages
• Publisher: Justin, Charles & Co.; First Edition edition (May 9, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1932112375
• ISBN-13: 978-1932112375
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.5 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,423,450 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wow! A suspenseful, multi-cultural, feminist mystery!, January 11, 2006

By 

Jaimy Mann - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: A Venom Beneath the Skin: A Romilia Chacon Mystery (Romilia Chacon Mysteries) (Hardcover)

From first page to last, Marcos M. Villatoro's A Venom Beneath the Skin is a suspenseful page-turner, but more importantly this fun book is also an intelligent feminist multi-cultural literary intervention.

Looking at the book from a feminist perspective, first, Romilia Chacon is a strong, yet realistic woman. For example, she is sexy (and there are sex scenes!) but her sexuality is truthful. She's both "hot" and matter-of-fact. Second, several other multifaceted females support Romilia's story. Detective Chacon is not presented as a female superhero anomaly. Finally, the males' stories may be secondary, but they too are diverse and sensitively portrayed in often surprising and nontraditional ways. This description may sound vague, but if I give details as to how these characters are multifaceted and nontraditional, it would give away some of the shocking twists!

As a multi-cultural story Villatoro's book is extremely effective. It teaches histories and cultures without being heavy-handed or didactic. I learned more about Tijuana Mexicans, Mexican-Americans, Guatemalans, various cities and political histories, and yet it never felt like I was being taught. Whiteness is also deconstructed and explained (through a here unnamed female character!) and African American and Asian American women make appearances that may be brief, but they're not tokens.

A Venom Beneath the Skin is excellent for anyone to read for a good time however what makes it a truly excellent read are the sensitive character portrayals and the socio-political framework. I'm a picky and easily offended reader, but I do love to read. I'm choosey with my recommendations, but I sincerely recommend Villatoro's book for pleasure, in the college classroom, and for reading groups.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars exciting police procedural, August 25, 2005

By 

Harriet Klausner - See all my reviews
(#1 Hall OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: A Venom Beneath the Skin: A Romilia Chacon Mystery (Romilia Chacon Mysteries) (Hardcover)

After taking down Minos, Romilia Chacon, a Nashville Police Department detective is offered a job with the FBI in Los Angeles, which she accepts. In LA she has an affair with Special Agent Samuel "Chip" Pierce. The relationship ends when he wants more from her than she can give; they go their separate ways until one night he calls her to see if they can start anew since he is retiring. As much as she cares for him, she can not marry a man she doesn't love.

That night a man breaks into Chip's home and murders him. The evidence, markings on his chest and a poisoned dart injecting venom into his system, suggests that drug trafficker Tekun Uman, killed him because of the former agent's involvement with the woman he loves. After reviewing Chip's files and other evidence Romilia concludes that Tekun Uman isn't Chip's killer, but made to look like he did it. She has no idea who would kill Chip and why and how Tekun Uman fits into the scenario.

Who is behind Chip's death and the murders of several drug traffickers and why he wants them dead is the core of one of the most exciting storylines in a police procedural in the past year. It is hard to tell the heroes from the villains in A VENOM BENEATH THE SKIN because all wear masks to hide their true faces. Marcus M. Villatoro is a talented writer who hopefully will createmore Romilia Chacon novels.

Harriet Klausner

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars loveeeeeeeeeeeed it, May 28, 2007

By 

A. Oesterle - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: A Venom Beneath the Skin (Romilia Chacon Mysteries) (Mass Market Paperback)

this book was AWSOME i had to read it for class but i loved it. plot was twisting and turning and had me hooked till the last word