“The Infatuations” was a murder mystery told from the point of view of a woman, Maria Dolz, whose infatuations lead her into the heart of the mystery, forever altering her perception of the world around her.

In the beginning of the novel, Maria was a naïve young woman who led a dull life working at a publishing house. Before work each morning, she would watch the Desverns, a couple she had nicknamed “the perfect couple” eat breakfast together. She became infatuated by the perfect love she saw embodied by the two of them. They offered her the only moments of happiness in her dull day.

After years of watching them, Maria noticed that the couple stopped coming to the coffee shop. Maria learned from her coworker that Miguel, the husband, had been savagely murdered. After offering her condolences to Luisa, the wife, Maria was invited into the woman’s home. There, Maria met Miguel’s best friend, Javier.

Shortly after their initial meeting, Javier and Maria met again. They then began a romantic relationship, during which Maria became infatuated with Javier. For, Javier, however, the relationship was purely physical. As Maria quickly learned, Javier was infatuated with Miguel’s wife Luisa.

One day as she was sleeping in Javier’s bed, Maria heard a conversation between Javier and Ruiberriz. In this conversation, Maria learned that Javier and Ruiberriz were accomplices in the murder of Miguel. Maria was stunned and frightened by Javier. She was, however, still hopelessly in love with him.

After a few weeks without word from Javier, Maria received a phone call from him, practically begging her to come over. When she arrived, Javier explained his side of the murder. He claimed that Miguel had received a fatal diagnosis shortly before the murder. Javier said that Miguel had asked him to have him killed in order to avoid a slow and painful death to illness.

For years after, Maria struggled with whether or not to believe Javier’s account of the events. She finally concluded that she did not believe him. One evening, she saw Javier and Luisa at a restaurant, obviously married. She went over to their table, contemplating whether or not to reveal the truth about Javier to his wife. She finally realized that she could not. She would be forever infatuated with Javier and thus could not possibly betray him despite her knowledge of his wrongdoing.