cover image Low Bite

Low Bite

Sin Soracco. Black Lizard Books, $16.95 (148pp) ISBN 978-0-88739-137-8

This offbeat first novel is more slice-of-life than mystery. Nonetheless, it tells a gripping story concerning a group of women in a California prison: their crimes, their relationships, their hopes and dreams. Morgan, the narrator, spends her time in the law library, dispensing legal counsel and brewing moonshine. To pass the endless days, she decides, along with Alexander, a young lawyer who teaches at the prison, to untangle the mystery behind the death of a fellow inmate's husband. China, an illegal Mexican immigrant, has been convicted of conspiracy to murder her spouse, but she vehemently declares her innocence, while scheming with her brother-in-law to get their hands on her late husband's money. As the mystery deepens and prison conditions deteriorate, the truth is revealed to Morgan in a surprising twist. Though the prose is somewhat overblown. Soracco's story is intriguing. (May)