Vagabond Virgins

Praise for The Vagabond Virgins... "This is a fast-moving adventure that effectively combines mainstream historical fiction with the conventions of the hard-boiled detective novel. Kuhlken has another winner." - Booklist Weeks before the 1979 Mexican elections, San Diego P.I. Alvaro Hickey follows the stories Baja California campesinos are spreading about visits from the Holy Virgin. Though Alvaro doubts her divinity, he's firmly on her side. She wants them to vote the corrupt and tyrannical Partido Revolucionario Institucional (PRI) out of power. When Lourdes Shuler asks him to unite her with her sister Lupe, Alvaro doesn't think much of it until Lourdes claims Lupe is the campesinos' Virgin. Alvaro's not the kind to turn down an appeal for help, especially from such a beauty. Besides, the published sketch a savant girl drew of the Virgin looks just like Lourdes. He suspects that Lourdes might not have a sister after all. Then someone arrives to rid the land of this vagabond Virgin.... Ken Kuhlken's novels have been honored as finalist for the Ernest Hemingway Award for best first novel, won the Private Eye Writers of America/St. Martin's Press Best First Novel competition, and been chosen as finalist for the Shamus Best Novel Award. He lives and writes in La Mesa, California. www.kenkuhlken.net