La Torre de Cristal / The Crystal Tower

«Una ciudad, una verdadera, tiene dos caras: la que la mayor a de sus habitantes entiende, y otra, la que se aparece apenas cae la noche.

M xico, 1977. En la penumbra de una cantina del Centro Hist rico, el G ero, un legendario periodista de nota roja, revela a sus j venes compa eros de domin el secreto mejor guardado de su carrera: la historia jam s contada detr s de su c lebre cr nica sobre el asesinato de Le n Trotsky. As conocemos a Alfonso Quevedo, un brillante crimin logo de m todos cient ficos que, desde su estudio, La Torre de Cristal, busca la verdad en los pliegues de la mente criminal, y a Valent n Quintanilla, un teniente curtido en la Revoluci n cuyo olfato y pu os son su mejor arma. Forzada a colaborar por el juez Robledo, esta pareja antag nica descubre que el magnicidio no fue un acto de venganza aislado, sino la punta de lanza de una conspiraci n donde se cruzan los intereses del Kremlin, las cloacas del gobierno cardenista, l deres sindicales, la crema y nata del arte mexicano, y hasta el fanatismo religioso del padre Salvatierra.

La Torre de Cristal no es s lo el cuartel general de una investigaci n imposible: es el eje de esta novela negra que desmonta la historia oficial para subrayar que, en M xico, el crimen, la pol tica y la ideolog a siempre han compartido la misma alcoba.

ENGLISH DESCRIPTION

"A city--a real one--has two faces: the one most of its inhabitants understand, and another that only emerges once night falls."

Mexico, 1977. In the dim light of a cantina in the Historic Center, the G ero--a legendary crime reporter--reveals to his young domino-playing companions the best-kept secret of his career: the never-before-told story behind his celebrated chronicle of the assassination of Leon Trotsky. Through him we meet Alfonso Quevedo, a brilliant criminologist who relies on scientific methods and, from his study known as the Crystal Tower, seeks truth in the folds of the criminal mind; and Valent n Quintanilla, a lieutenant hardened by the Revolution, whose instinct and fists are his greatest weapons. Forced to collaborate by Judge Robledo, this unlikely pair discovers that the assassination was not an isolated act of revenge, but the spearhead of a conspiracy entangling the interests of the Kremlin, the underbelly of the C rdenas government, union leaders, the cr me de la cr me of Mexican art, and even the religious fanaticism of Father Salvatierra.

The Crystal Tower is not merely the headquarters of an impossible investigation: it is the axis of this noir novel, which dismantles the official version of history to underscore that in Mexico, crime, politics, and ideology have always shared the same bed.