Alex tells Henry he was carrying the gun for protection because he'd been the victim of a gay bashing several months earlier. Henry is also asked by a friend, magazine editor Richie Florentino, to represent a young actor, Alex Amerian, accused of assault and of carrying a concealed firearm. Rise By 23 Percent / '95 statistics show.

Henry counters: 'The hard lesson of Josh's life was that he belonged to himself.' 'He belongs to them,' the Mandels' lawyer claims. The Mandels, adhering to Jewish law, oppose Henry's determination to carry out Josh's wish to be cremated. As the book opens, Henry, a middle- aged recovering alcoholic, is in the midst of a legal battle with the parents of his deceased lover, Josh Mandel, over the disposition of Josh's body. He makes his points - about gay identity, Mexican American life, the religious right, the indifference to hate crimes by law enforcement and the media - within a realistic context of believable plot and characters.Ī good mystery has to work first as a good novel, and 'The Burning Plain' is that. Nava, a San Francisco lawyer who made a welcome return to mystery writing in 1996 after a four-year hiatus with 'The Death of Friends,' has an agenda beyond delivering a compelling whodunit. Some plot elements reach resolution in his latest Henry Rios mystery, 'The Burning Plain,' but others are intentionally left hanging, and nothing feels even slightly contrived.

Perhaps the most significant is that his characters and plots only occasionally do what we expect them to do.

There are many reasons why Michael Nava's mysteries grab readers by the lapels and don't let go.

The Burning Plain by Michael Nava