Reviewers gave an extraordinary reception to Michael Nava's return to fiction in 1996 after a four-year absence: "The Death of Friends is a high-quality work of fiction that deserves to be widely discovered" (Chicago Tribune). "A beautifully executed novel, with a classic whodunit at its core, surprise twists, exquisite dialogue, unexpected characters and profound observations on modern life. Nava is part of a relatively new breed of writer-Mosley, Paretsky, Hillerman-who have broken through the limitations of the mystery genre" (San Francisco Chronicle).The hero of Nava's books, Henry Rios, is a gay Mexican- American lawyer whose strengths and weaknesses resonate deeply as he traverses the often daunting personal and public terrain of Los Angeles. In The Burning Plain, Rios successfully defends a young man accused of attempting to burglarize a movie director's house. When the man is found murdered several hours later, however, the case suddenly turns darker, and that terrain becomes a quicksand of blackmail, corruption, and cupidity-a quicksand which eventually threatens to engulf Rios himself.Filled with brilliantly evocative characters and prose that cuts like a knife, The Burning Plain is further proof that "if you haven't discovered Nava yet, an uncommonly rich experience awaits" (Kirkus Reviews).