Border Ghosts

Deputy Ricos #4

by Elizabeth A. Garcia

Deputy Margarita Ricos is not like every other deputy sheriff. She’s young. She’s tough. She’s kindhearted and smart. She’s a proud Chicana! Raised on the edge of the United States in Terlingua, Texas, she has a broad perspective of “the border,” its people, and its issues. She chooses to remain in the vast land of mountains and desert, a muddy, winding river, fiery sunsets, unique dangers, and indescribable beauty.

Margarita is an advocate of justice and fairness in a world that is neither. She takes comfort in the steadfastness of the scenery she adores and her love for and commitment to her community.

While still recovering from the loss of her love, Margarita’s birth father comes to visit. He is Sergeant Zeke Pacheco with the Texas Rangers, and he invites her to accompany him to Dallas. He wants to spend a week with his daughter, to take her away from the darkness in her head and the gossip in Terlingua. Also, “if she wants to,” he could use her help on the mysterious case of a friend’s son. The young man is in prison for killing his wife and children. Is he guilty as charged or innocent, as he claims?
Margarita jumps at the chance to get to know her father better and to have an adventure in Dallas. And she can never resist a mystery or a chance to right a wrong. She’s quickly drawn into a web of lies and cover-ups, angels and villains, wrongs and redemption.

While trying to prove an imprisoned man guilty beyond doubt or wrongly accused, Margarita is haunted by a mystery from her past. She begins the fast-paced, danger-filled, winding route to the Border Ghosts.

293 pages, Paperback

First published June 23, 2015

Reviews

[Manning Wolfe · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fiction (Crime)
Elizabeth A. Garcia
Houston: Iron Mountain Press
Paperback, 978-0-9905259-9-8
306 pgs., $16.95
2014

Review by Manning Wolfe for Lone Star Literary Life:

Elizabeth A. Garcia’s Border Ghosts begins with her heroine, Deputy Sheriff Margarita Rico, recovering from a broken heart and career woes in Terlingua, Texas. Margarita’s birth father, Zeke Pacheco, a Texas Ranger from Dallas, entices her to spend a week with him solving the mystery of a young man who may be falsely imprisoned for the murder of his wife and two children. “My father had thrown me a lifeline, and even with a broken heart and a head full of dark thoughts, I knew enough to grab it.”

Margarita leaves her beautiful desert land for Dallas, where she is confronted with lies and cover-ups by those who were quick to accuse the imprisoned young man. Or, were they right about him? He was found covered in blood, jealous of an affair his wife was having, and had struck her before, according to police reports. Good detective work by Margarita unravels the chain of events that led to his conviction and puts to rest his guilt or innocence once and for all.

The vast and haunting beauty of the Big Bend Country, its people, and unique dangers circa 1966, are the backdrop for a haunting story comprising the second part of the novel. A young couple leaves the safety of their Chihuahua, Mexico home and faces the dangers of crossing the Rio Grande River and the Texas dessert for a chance at the American dream.

The two stories are interwoven like a leather bootlace alternating the sweet story of young love and danger-filled mystery from the past involving the Border Ghosts with the modern day quest to prove the imprisoned man either guilty or innocent. The juxtaposition of the Border drama against the modern day Dallas mystery elevates the texture of the novel and gives it depth. The way the two strands are reconciled is both charming and satisfying.

Garcia has a way of exposing the historical relationship between Mexican immigrants and U.S. Citizens in an eye opening way. She promotes truth and honesty in her dealings without becoming preachy. Love of Big Bend Country is paramount to Garcia and her heroine.


This is the fourth installment in the Deputy Ricos series and it does not disappoint. In the style of Tony Hillerman, Bill Crider, and Rex Stout, Garcia weaves an intertwined tale of two mysteries that keeps the reader guessing and rooting for the heroine, Margarita Ricos, until the last page.



Manning Wolfe is an author and attorney residing in Austin, Texas. After many years of storytelling, Manning has written a legal thriller series involving a Texas attorney based in Austin. The first, Dollar Signs: Texas Lady Lawyer vs. Boots King was the winner of the 2014 Writer’s League of Texas Manuscript Contest. A graduate of Rice University and the University of Texas School of Law, she specializes in business law. Visit her website www.manningwolfe.com.

[Dino Price · Rating 5 out of 5]

Couldn't put it down.

[Tracey S Choat · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ricos Book 4

I didn't enjoy this book as much as I did the first 3. I do plan to read the next book in this series.

[Ambera Garcia · Rating 5 out of 5]

As soon as I started 'Border Ghosts', I was engrossed. I should never start a Garcia novel on a day that I need to accomplish anything. Within just a few minutes of reading, I was transported to the 1960s Chihuahuan Desert, and a few moments later smack into the heart of Dallas. For those of you who have not been to the Chihuahuan Desert, read some of the descriptions in this book and tell me you don't want to go.
I already knew that I loved Margarita, but what I didn't realize was how much I could love two completely new characters. Max and Lucia stay with you long after you close the novel and make you long to open it again.
Of course, there is a mystery or two, but what shines is Garcia's ability to involve you in her characters. I feel like I've binged with Margarita a time or two, enjoyed tea on the porch with Lucia and helped Max tend the horses. I feel like they are my friends.

Thank you, for such a great read, Ms. Garcia! As always, I am waiting to tag along in the next adventure and meet a few new friends.

[Tess Votto · Rating 5 out of 5]

This isn't exactly like the previous Deputy Ricos books; it's better. I still have tears in my eyes, and I had to put the book down just a few times when waves of emotions got the better of me. You get two great mysteries in this novel, plus the reality of how the world moves in our little Texas-pocket of the world.

I love how Elizabeth A. Garcia wraps so many social issues into the fabric of her characters and plot. She is a master story-teller, and I hope to tell stories as compelling as hers one day.

[Jennifer Chandler · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ms Garcia never fails to grab my attention from the first word of each Deputy Ricos book and keep it soundly arrested until the very last word! This was the fourth book I've read in her Deputy Ricos series and I am left saddened that she hasn't written hundreds more for me to read. Being in and/or living in and near the Big Bend area and Texas my entire life, her descriptions of geography, natural beauty, towns and people are spot on. It is always a pleasure to 'visit' with Deputy Ricos via Ms Garcia!!!

[Carole · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book touched me in so many ways. The intertwining of the past & present explained so many aspects of Margarita's family. It gives factual & heart-breaking accounts of how Mexicanos were treated in the near past (and still are, in some instances). Margarita's relationship to her birth father is complex at times, but they come to understand & love each other more deeply. Ms. Garcia is a compelling storyteller. Please be aware that once you start one of her books, it's almost impossible to stop reading until it's finished.

[Melody · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was so thrilled to get this book within a few days after it's publication. I read it in just a few days and once again the author, Elizabeth A. Garcia, kept me intrigued and entranced with her wonderful tale. I love how the books can be read in any order as they are all a story of their own. Keep up the great work Elizabeth A Garcia! Can't wait for the next Deputy Ricos tale.

[Virginia Serna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Detective story is fiction but the Immigrant's trial and tribulations are real. So much more so today.
I recommend it to anyone not raised in the border regions of the US and Mexico.