Colorado Authors Hall of Fame
The Los Angeles Times observed that “he is known as a crime writer,
but that doesn’t quite capture what he does. His books are
love stories, political dramas, mordant cautionary tales."
The Mile High Noir Series
Desperado: A Mile High Noir
Featuring Gus Corral from the short story The Skull of Pancho Villa, originally published in Hit List: The Best of Latino Mystery (Arte Público Press), this return to book-length crime fiction has been called "brilliant and gripping" by bestselling mystery writer Diane Mott Davidson; a "searing ride" by noted poet and novelist Tim Z. Hernandez; and an "up-to-the-minute portrait of the New America" by the award-winning novelist Michael Nava. Winner of the 2014 Colorado Book Award for Best Mystery. See the video here.
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My Bad: A Mile High Noir
​ Ex-con Gus Corral is fresh out of jail and intent on keeping his nose clean. He’s living in his sister’s basement, which he shares with a cat or two, Corrine’s CDs and their father’s record collection. The blues music in particular strikes a chord, matching the way he feels about his current state.
Things start to look up when Gus gets a job working as an investigator for his attorney, Luis Montez. An activist in the Chicano Movement of the 1960s and 1970s, Montez is slowing down and getting close to retirement, and he figures the felon can do the legwork on his cases. When María Contreras comes to see the lawyer about her dead husband’s “business partner”—someone she has never heard of who’s demanding his share of the profits of a business she knew nothing about—Montez has Gus look into the situation.
Narrating the story in alternating chapters, Gus and Luis recount their run-ins with suspicious characters as they learn that there’s more to the case than meets the eye. The widow’s husband owned and operated a local bar, not a Mexican folk art import company called Aztlán Treasures. And word on the street is that he was murdered on his boat in the Sea of Cortez. Soon, the dead bodies are piling up and the pair is surrounded by shadowy figures that point to money laundering, drug smuggling and even Mexican crime cartels.
The follow-up to Desperado, Ramos’ first novel featuring Gus Corral, My Bad races to a walloping conclusion in a Rocky Mountain blizzard, leaving fans of crime novels—and Chicano literature—eagerly awaiting the next installment in his mile-high noir.
The Golden Havana Night
Ex-con Gus Corral is at peace with his new life as a private investigator. He’s good at his job, even if he’s mostly a delivery man or a “go-for” guy trying to expose—or protect—someone else’s secrets.
An unexpected visit by Joaquín “Kino” Machaco, the Colorado Rockies’ all-star center fielder who defected from Cuba as a teen, disrupts his routine. The famous ballplayer needs help: His brother has a gambling problem and owes a lot of money to a Cuban criminal who’s threatening their family. He needs Gus to travel to the island with his brother to hand over half a million dollars in cash. Not only will Gus need to keep the money safe from the inveterate gambler, he’ll have to convince the “entrepreneur” to leave Machaco’s family alone after the payoff.
Gus’ visions of relaxing on warm, beautiful beaches accompanied by Latin jazz and rum concoctions are immediately dashed. A hail of bullets—violence virtually unheard of in the autocratic nation—leaves one dead and several wounded and leads to unforeseen ramifications that will come to a shocking, bloody conclusion in Denver. Narrated by Gus Corral in his sardonic voice, The Golden Havana Night reveals a complicated, secretive island where nothing is really secret.
Angels in the Wind
"More than just a detective novel, this book is a reflection on the changing landscape of the West and the redemptive power of family. The work of a storyteller at the peak of his form, the return of private investigator Gus Corral reminds me of nothing less than The Long Goodbye set in Colorado. Thrilling, heartbreaking and engrossing, Angels in the Wind is the best yet from one of the masters of the genre." David Heska Wanbli Weiden, author of Winter Counts.
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“Manuel Ramos is a legend of Chicano noir and he’s done it again with Angels in the Wind. Gus Corral is on the case in Melton, Colorado, a small town with some big secrets and characters who might just remind you of a long-lost cousin. In this gripping noir, there’s sexy jazz, rolling bluffs, a missing teenager, and the weight of history at every turn. Utterly readable and atmospheric, I couldn’t put this book down.”
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Kali Fajardo-Anstine, author of Sabrina & Corina and Woman of Light.