The Cigarette Girl on the Tango: 2 (A Red Car Noir)

The Cigarette Girl on the Tango D. J. Phinneys follow-up to The Anaheim Beauties Valencia Queen unveils another hushed-up chapter of California history. In the depths of the Great Depression the Santa Ana River floods of 1938 roar through Orange County destroying Atwood a river-edge bracero hamlet. 19-year-old Willie OToole searches for his missing love Elena Valenzuela almost certain she has drowned. At a tamale shop near the western edge of rural Santa Ana he meets Loretta who looks exactly like Elena without her innocence. She claims to be Elenas sister. But some facts arent adding up. Then Willie learns Elenas corpse washed up onshore at Seal Beach then called Sin City the red-light district and gambling mecca of Orange County. He follows Elenas trail to the gambling ships offshore. There Willies horrified to learn his love Elena didnt drown and that Loretta isnt who she claimed to be. Steeped in more true but hidden history once more the story echoes the present and strips the makeup off our candy-coated past. Enjoy a journey to a California few people remember where a thin veneer of innocence masked an underworld of lies.