When Laura, a seventeen year old key witness goes missing during trial, Assistant Prosecutor Gaby Ruiz is called to action.  Ruiz, a Latina prosecutor, investigates the sexual assault on Laura, who is left for dead in a motel in a drug- and gang-ridden community.  The investigation twists from the backwoods in Tuckford County to the back rooms of law enforcement buildings all the way to the Walled City.  Did Clown, Laura's boyfriend, try to kill her when she wanted to leave the Lincoln Gang's prostitution ring or -- did a random assailant ransack Laura's room and assault her -- or did law enforcement try to kill Laura to protect one of their own?  Through pure determination, Gaby Ruiz does not let anything stop her search for justice and to secure her witness for trial.

Gabriela Ruiz is a sex crimes prosecutor in Tuckford County and runs The Mamacita Club, a community outreach effort from her chrome Vintage Airstream motorhome. She travels with her friends around the county to reach at-risk women.  Women affected by drugs, abuse, gang and domestic violence, sex crimes, and broken homes -- they're all in The Mamacita Club.  For Gaby, the law is rarely black or white -- it's more about determination, persistence, and finding closure for her victims.  But it's always about justice.  Gaby has spent all of her professional life seeking justice for others.  But what she should have been doing is searching for closure for herself.  It is not until Laura goes missing, that Gaby is able to start fixing her own guilt-ridden past for not protecting her mom from an abusive relationship -- this time to save her own life and seek closure over her own mother's death.

The Mamacita Murders is author Debra Mares' first novel and first in a series of courtroom drama and chick lit mysteries. Purchase The Mamacita Murders, Vol. 1 for your favorite reading device at Smashwords or for Kindle at Amazon.  The Mamacita Murders is due out in print in May 2012, just in time for your summer vacación.

Debra Mares delivers a strong mystery debut in “The Mamacita Murders,” which kicks off a promising series. Mares introduces Gaby Ruiz, a captivating and dynamic Latina prosecutor who's struggling to let go of her own past while investigating a sexual assault. Mares offers well-drawn characters, a fresh Latina voice, and an authentic glimpse into issues facing women. She is a new author I will be following . . . Allison Leotta, Author of Discretion