17 Stone Angels

17 Stone Angels is an anti-detective thriller in which the conventions of the genre are turned inside-out. It hero, Miguel Fortunato, is assigned to kidnap a man he doesn't know, and when the job goes awry the corrupt but decent Fortunato finds himself a murderer.

When the Americans send down their own investigator, Fortunato is assigned to help the foreigner. As he falsifies evidence and even finds a suitable killer to confess to the crime, Fortunato begins to solve the mystery of who the victim was and why he had to die.

Buenos Aires is an intimate part of the book, with its gorgeous facades and comic-opera personalities that include bitter ex-Revolutionaries, sensual tango dancers, artistes, businessmen, and a pornographic website financed by the World Bank. From the cheap bars of the outer barrios to the gleaming high-rises of international corporations, crimes of the lowest and highest order come together in one of the most beautiful and venal cities on earth.

Stuart Archer Cohen has traveled extensively for business and pleasure through the entire Americas, from Tierra del Fuego to the Arctic. His trading company, Invisible World, imports and retails wool, silk, alpaca and cashmere clothing from South America and China. Cohen's previous novels include Invisible World and The Army of the Republic, currently in development for a film by Oliver Stone. He lives in Juneau, Alaska, with his wife and two sons.