The Dead Girls

The incidents are real in this book but the characters are imaginary. In January of 1963, the bodies of six young prostitutes were found buried in the backyard of a brothel owned and operated by a middle aged woman and her sister. These two women were convicted of murder and sent to prison. This book reconstructs the dark comedy of errors that led these sisters to commit murder and to involve nearly everyone in the small Mexican village in which they lived. Set against a rich backdrop of of zany local characters and folklore, the story of these two women and the human degradation they practiced with impunity for years is also the story of what can happen to people who come into a world riddled with injustice and have no alternative but to survive the best way they can.

This novel is based on a true story, which happened in Central Mexico in the 60's. It is the famous story of "Las Poquianchis", a couple of sisters from Guanajuato state, who successfully ran a number of brothels, always with the complacency of local authorities (at one scene, the mayor of a town cuts the ribbon of a new one, but then gets drunk and disgraces himself in a hilarious way). A series of unfortunate accidents, as well as stupid actions, bring the sisters' luck down, and then hell breaks loose. This sordid story serves perfectly for another fictionalized account by the master of subtle, cynical humor, unfortunately little known out of Mexico (unfortunate for the potential readers). This is a small masterpiece of an objective, cold, cynical, sarcastic and great narrative. The characters are perfectly believable and Ibargüengoitia's stand as narrator is completely absent, dettached. Probably the best parts are the first-person accounts of people involved in the murders and their cover-ups. The trivial incidents are at the same time absolutely hilarious, disgusting and relevant to the plot. If you like this one, go further and read other works by this author, like "Two crimes", "Lopez's steps", "The lightnings of August" or "Kill the lion". They're all wonderful and intelligent sense of humor, with a pessimistic and dark twist.The best thing about his writing is that he is Never trying to be funny. You get the feeling that the stories may be ludicrous, but the author is simply telling them the way they were. If you find them funny, that's your issue. It is that precisely which makes them funnier: in real life, stupid and humorous thing happen, without any need for inventing them. Life, says Ibargüengoitia, is absurd in every detail. Check it out.