RATING: 4.75It’s not my normal reading style to read the last book in a series first, but in the case of Rag and Bone, I’m glad that I broke my own rule. The book is exceptional on many levels and has an emotional resonance that you don’t often find in crime fiction.Henry Rios is at a point where he feels that life is pretty much meaningless. His long time lover, Josh, died of AIDS. He’s been working as a lawyer for a long time and is burned out. So when a heart attack strikes him down, he is more than willing to embrace the end of life, going through a Near Death Experience. It is only the voice of his estranged sister, Elena, that brings him back to the world of the living. During their early years, they had been close. But living in a home with an abusive father drove them apart as time passed with each fighting to survive a life that was terrifying and unpredictable. As Henry goes through his recuperation, he and Elena reestablish the bond that has always existed between them. Like Henry, Elena is also gay. She is in a committed relationship with another woman. Shockingly, Elena reveals that many years earlier she gave birth to a daughter who she placed for adoption. A few years earlier, she traced her to a group home. Elena was unable to accept who Vicky was since she behaved like a gang girl and never revealed herself. Only now have the two found one another, and that only because Vicky is in serious trouble. She has a 10-year old son, Angel, and they are running from Vicky’s abusive husband.The husband is murdered, and Vicky is the natural suspect. Henry doesn’t get along particularly well with Vicky but feels he must defend her since she is a family member. Vicky has confessed, but things just don’t quite add up. While Vicky is in jail, Angel is living with Henry. This young boy steals the show. He’s bright and hard, a child who has been through a man’s life. All at once, Henry’s meaningless life has become fuller than it has ever been. He’s reunited with his sister, become an uncle and a father figure and even begun a new relationship which shows great long-term potential. The heart that was broken by his own mother and father and that died in the hospital is in the process of healing, becoming stronger and filled with love.This was a book that I literally could not put down. I felt a strong connection to each of the characters, even the unsympathetic Vicky. Henry was presented as a real human being with some flaws of character but overall a caring and decent man. Nava excelled at creating a sense of pace that propelled the reader forward and an LA setting with Latino neighborhoods that are poor in many ways and rich in others . It wasn’t too difficult to determine what some of the truth of the mystery was, but there were a few twists that were genuinely surprising. The connections to the past were moving; the bridges to the future were inspiring.In the acknowledgments of the book, Nava writes: “This book brings to an end this series of mysteries and my career as a mystery writer.” What a sad loss for the genre. Nava is an exceptionally talented author. I am fortunate in that I have not yet read the first 6 books in the series, a lack that I intend to correct.
This is the last in the Henry Rios series and my favorite from the series because it is filled with hope. Henry's near death experience kind of marks the death of his old life and all his losses and the beginning of the new. Now at the end of this fantastic series Henry for me has become a kind of 20th Century Job, who having lost everything begins life again with family, friends, love and a new opportunity. Henry reunites with his sister who was distant before and the two of them begin a kind of journey together of healing the past. Henry discovers he has a niece and she has a son who looks just like him. At his time of crisis he gets to learn and experience the love of his friends and he finds friendship and love with a new man. So there is hope on every side but also a mystery to solve as he finds himself defending his niece from murder charges. But both she and Angel his nephew are hiding something and it is something which could turn the case on its head.I loved this. I loved the way in which we get to see Henry practicing law and the way in which he follows his gut instinct to find out what happened, all whilst recovering from a heart attack. At the beginning of the series Henry came across as quite lonely but here we get to see his friends and see that though things have been hard for him he has managed to develop relationships that sustain him. We also get to see Henry finding himself in his family. The mystery was excellent with a few twists and turns, and secrets. Best of all is Henry's chance at finding new love which he thoroughly deserves and finding the love of his sister. Henry's court scenes were superb, his scenes with his sister touched my heart and his energy and determination were inspiring. It left me wishing for an uncle like Henry. I will definitely read this book again. I think it is a fitting place to stop the series as well but I do wish there had been more. I like the sense of Henry finding life again after the losses of his previous loves and the darkness of the last book. Henry has come such a long way in his journey. I would have loved to see him as a judge.An excellent finale for an excellent series.
Do You like book Rag And Bone (2013)?
"THIS BOOK BRINGS TO an end this series of mysteries and my career as a mystery writer."Michael NavaWell, Henry got his happy ending, but there are many other UNHAPPY PIs, lawyers and UNSOLVED cases around there...WHY to give up a career as a MYSTERY writer?! Emotions aside, I LOVE Henry Rios and I love Michael Nava's writing. The last book in one of the most CAPTIVATING mystery series was probably the most PERSONAL in regard to Henry Rios PERSONAL life, comparing to the previous sequels. But it wasn't very unexpected. With every sequel we got more and more of Henry Rios as a PRIVATE man, an openly gay Latino lawyer. I really enjoyed the mystery aspect, it has been ALWAYS done on a VERY HIGH level. But it is not just a good written MYSTERY.What I really enjoyed in the series - a smart mixture of BRAIN and HEART. And Michael Nave understands perfectly well how to present this mixture in the best way.Rag and Bone is my second BEST in the series, and I can understand WHY it could be your BEST. But I read the last two books, one after another, within a week, and I found the mystery in the previous book a little better than in the final book, but it is my personal feeling-I am just not into kids in my gay fiction books(I hope I won't upset Elton John too much with my statement), but it is just me, in my NOT-A-MOTHER-MODE. Really, there were so many WONDERFUL UNEXPECTED surprises in this last book: 1)JOHN. THE BEST what COULD have happened to Henry. "John" is the magic word of the book 7. 2)Henry's family. In all possible way. The book 7 is a family book.3)Henry. He is DIFFERENT here. I don't meant his qualification as a defender. I mean his protective instincts as a family head. My conclusion:I'm SAD(for Henry. Because I have to say "farewell" to him), and HAPPY(because of Henry. I leave him not alone! And I don't mean just a family. I mean HIS family.And I can say it at the end of the series: Henry Rios, It was definitely a perfect way to end the series. LOVE IT. Could it be better than this? Hardly.
—Lena♥Ribka
Had heard a lot about this author. Was expecting the book to be a crime story somehwere between a murder mystery and a court room drama. I was pleasantly surprised that it really begins to unfold as a personal/family drama and then the mystery comes out in the middle of it with the personal relationships as a rich and complicated backdrop. I came to care so much for the characters b/c the situations were so real. It's also nice to read about gay male characters who aren't actors, models or writers, who aren't in their twenties and who have problems other than romance or status.The Author's note said this is the last in the series and I look forward to reading the other ones.
—Mark
Rag and Bone is Michael Nava's seventh Henry Rios mystery, the gay Chicano laywer. Henry is now in his late forties, and as we rejoin him he is on the verge of a heart attack that leaves him weakened and with little purpose or desire to continue. But soon events will change that.He learns that his sister, with whom he has had little contact over that she had an illegitimate daughter she gave up for adoption at birth. The daughter, Vicky, has now got in touch with her, and is in need of help; and that need will increase as events transpire and she is charged with her supposedly violent husband's murder. Vicky confesses to the crime, and her ten year old son Angel backs her up. Henry is not convinced and so tries to get to the truth, but he does not like the conclusions to which he comes, is there another possible answer?In the process of helping Vicky's case Henry finds himself caring for his ten year old great nephew Angel, and intelligent boy mature beyond his years, but clearly in need of a stable male influence in his life; he takes to Henry despite his mothers warnings about his being gay.On the career front, Henry's old friend Inez has put his name forward for an appointment that Henry feels very positive about.Then there is his chance meeting with John DeLeon, boss of a small construction company who comes to Henry's aid on his first venture out when recovering from his heart attack. John, in his early forties, a married man with a family takes an interest in Henry, an interest that soon leads to deeper feelings - and actions.This is a most fitting conclusion to the Henry Rios mysteries. Well up to the standard of its forerunners with the same tight prose, clear eye for detail, and well drawn character. Rag and Bone is not just an intriguing mystery, but also a moving and positive conclusion on which to leave the most likeable lawyer as he finally has the chance to find the family he never had.t
—Benjamin
