Mortal Revenge follows a successful executive who is pulled into a deadly reckoning when family secrets and systemic corruption surface. What was the inspiration for the setup of your story? 

Mortal Revenge is based on true events of my co-writer’s family. When Fernando called me with the story after he got out of the hospital, I knew we had a compelling thriller plot. All we had to do was turn truth to fiction to protect him.  It took us two years. The project was cathartic for him, and boy-oh-boy did my Spanish improve! 

Alex is successful and capable, yet emotionally exhausted and deeply loyal. What interested you about placing someone like him at the center of this story?

It felt right to me that a damaged personality with shaky self-esteem, weak boundaries, and caretaking tendencies would be likely to take on the task.  Although Alex is at the top of his career when the call from his mother comes, his is a patterned response. Between the yearning for his mother’s love and the Mexican culture of family loyalty, Alex has no choice. Watching Alex heal as he took on the medical and legal systems was exciting for us! 

The most devastating conflicts in the novel come from family rather than strangers. Why does betrayal cut deeper when it’s personal?

I asked Fernando to answer this question because a) he’s the co-author, and b) he lived through the betrayals. He says, “When betrayal comes from within the family, the wound is far deeper: it originates from within and threatens to destroy even the past. The pain intensifies upon discovering that those who should have been a source of support are hiding a devastating secret. Even more painful is the fact that family members knew about it and, instead of seeking justice, chose to cover up the truth. The shadow of what is hidden lingers, waiting for the moment to be revealed.”

Is this the first book in the series? If so, when is the next book coming out, and what can your fans expect in the next story?

This is a stand-alone book, although my co-author and I are researching our next book now.  

I’m hoping to launch my next Dafne Olabarrieta Mexico Mystery around the end of the year. It’s (right now) called Dumped and takes on the Mexico City garbage mafia when the new mayor, an old school chum of Dafne’s, is found dead by a pepenador, a trash picker. I’ve already visited a couple of dump sites—not your usual tourist stops!

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