Not your bog-standard crime fiction, but an incredible blend of dark wit and dry humour, here’s Mexico Street by Simone Buchholz.

The plot:

Night after night, cars are set alight across the German city of Hamburg, with no obvious pattern, no explanation and no suspect.

Until, one night, on Mexico Street, a ghetto of high-rise blocks in the north of the city, a Fiat is torched. Only this car isn’t empty. The body of Nouri Saroukhan – prodigal son of the Bremen clan – is soon discovered, and the case becomes a homicide.

Public prosecutor Chastity Riley is handed the investigation, which takes her deep into a criminal underground that snakes beneath the whole of Germany. And as details of Nouri’s background, including an illicit relationship with the mysterious Aliza, emerge, it becomes clear that these are not random attacks, and there are more on the cards…

Buy it and love it

When reading Mexico Street, you can see why the author is a bestseller. Buchholz is back with our weird-but-wonderful heroine.

I previously reviewed the previous book in the Chastity Riley series, here, and in my opinion, this series just got a whole lot better. It had the solid ending I was looking for, more dry humour than ever before and a bigger focus on the crime, whilst still adding in the special touch which we expect from Buchholz.

The story behind this one, especially when it delved into the clan mentioned in the synopsis, was very interesting whilst making very valid points and observations about our society. If you’re expecting a straight-forward crime fiction, stay away. This has many layers which you’ll unpeel and not be able to forget.

Think: order reduced to chaos, and you’ll be on the right line. It’s made me want to go back and read the first book in the series (Blue Night), so I can appreciate every word.

Buchholz has just really nailed her prose and I relish the moments her book is in my hands. Her writing style and some phrases used are unlike anything I’ve ever read. It does jump around occasionally, but you’ll get used to it quickly.

At 227 pages, it’s a short, quirky read which packs a punch for readers. Personally, I wouldn’t market this as a thriller, more of a crime fiction with a “look at yourself” vibe, with ‘forbidden’ love written all over it.

Buy it and love it. 

Mexico Street, Simone Buchholz, RRP £8.99 (paperback); Book Depository 

Pages: 227

Publisher: Orenda

Genre: Crime fiction