Las Mujeres, by BJ Taylor

Life in the new Republic of Mexico in 1814, Don Miguel Gavilan, newly appointed Solicitor General, struggles with inferiority while trying to deliver justice for two murder victims—a poisoned mistress of an esteemed aristocrat and, days later, her pimp. He also advocates for middle-class healthcare workers facing rising prejudice.

Teetering on the brink of failure, Don Miguel relies on Las Mujeres—Doña Isabel Ignacio, a Moroccan physician relegated to midwifery; his formidable grandmother, the Dowager Marquesa Gavilan; his cousin, Doña Leticia; and a cadre of house fairies and newly minted Aztec deities who assist modern Mexican mortals. With their help, murders are solved, workers soothed, and magical allies transform into purveyors of valor, hope, and justice.

Narrated by Don Miguel himself, this historic literary novel captures Mexico at a pivotal moment: from colony to Republic, from mystical Aztec-Catholic blends to secular modernity, from pulque to tequila, and from rigid hierarchy to vibrant, multicultural society—a genre-blurring, adventurous, magical, and queer delight, full of lust, charm, and historical Mexican realism with a chaser of tequila and lime.