La mordida

the long version

Following El Camino del Rio (1998), this second in Sanderson's Dolph Martinez series finds the newly promoted border agent working with a special task force operating on both sides of the Texas-Mexico border. When Martinez finds that he may have been an unwitting pawn in a plot to eliminate a small-time crook, he starts digging and finds a corruption-soaked scam. Like its predecessor, this latest Martinez tale boasts an unusual protagonist (the likable Martinez is both cop and historian), sharp plotting, and a large cast of full-bodied characters. As a special treat for the author's fans, Jerri Johnson and Joe Parr, stars of Safe Delivery (2000), put in an appearance here; in fact, it's the PI Johnson and her former Texas Ranger husband who alert Martinez to the nasty goings-on in which he has unknowingly become involved.