The following version of this book was used to create this guide: Moreno-Garcia, Silvia. Velvet Was the Night. Del Rey, 2021.

Silvia Moreno-Garcia’s novel Velvet Was the Night is written from the third-person limited perspective. Her chapters focus alternately on Maite Jaramillo and Elvis. Throughout the novel, Moreno-Garcia narrates the story in the past tense.

The novel opens during the 1971 Corpus Christi Massacre in Mexico City. A man known as Elvis (a code name) is a member of the Hawks, a paramilitary group dedicated to disbanding leftist student organizations. The Hawks attack journalists during a protest, but Elvis abandons his assignment in order to bring El Gazpacho, a fellow Hawk, to the hospital.

Maite Jaramillo is a dissatisfied secretary who spends much of her time reading romance stories and listening to records. Maite has little money and few close relationships. Her neighbor, an attractive young art student named Leonora, asks Maite to feed her cat for a few days. Maite, who often steals trinkets from unsuspecting neighbors, agrees, and she later takes a broken statuette from Leonora’s apartment. Maite then lets Leonora’s handsome ex-boyfriend, Emilio Lomelí, into Leonora’s apartment in order to look, unsuccessfully, for a camera. Several days later, Leonora has not returned; she calls Maite and urgently asks her to bring her belongings and cat to a print shop. At the print shop, Maite meets a young man named Rubén (later revealed to be another of Leonora’s ex-boyfriends). Leonora does not appear, so Maite visits Leonora’s sister. She tells Maite that their uncle gives Leonora financial support.

In the aftermath of the bloody protest, El Mago, the head of the Hawks, promotes Elvis to unit leader. El Mago is a distinguished, articulate, and intimidating man whom Elvis idolizes. A few days later, El Mago gives Elvis two assignments. He tells Elvis to locate a woman named Leonora, who has a collection of important photographs. He also instructs Elvis to interrogate a Jesuit priest about Leonora’s location. Elvis searches Leonora’s apartment but finds nothing. Accompanied by two fellow Hawks, Elvis violently questions the priest. The priest does not know Leonora’s location, but he admits that she recently came to visit him. He confesses that Leonora had photographs implicating the government in the brutal repression of protesters.

Maite, excited by the sudden drama, again visits Rubén at the print shop, and he agrees to ask the other members of Asterisk, an art collective, about Leonora. He later tells Maite that the leader of Asterisk, Jackie, knows nothing of Leonora’s whereabouts, but that Leonora confessed to her that she has incriminating information about the Hawks. The next day, an intimidating man named Mateo Anaya visits Maite at work. Anaya is an agent of the DFS, the Mexican secret police. He forcefully asks Maite about Leonora, as well as her involvement with Rubén. Maite later visits Emilio, who tells her that Leonora expressed interest in leaking the photographs to a journalist. Rubén intercepts Maite on her way home and takes her to Asterisk. They decide to visit the journalist with whom Leonora met, and they rapidly exit Asterisk as a fight breaks out.

Elvis again meets with El Mago. El Mago tells Elvis to surveil Leonora’s neighbor, Maite. Elvis searches her apartment and finds very little. He is, however, impressed by her record collection. At the suggestion of El Mago, Elvis later visits a man named Justo in order to gain access to Asterisk. Justo warns Elvis that the government will soon disband the Hawks. Elvis also asks Justo to locate El Gazpacho. Elvis and his team follow Maite to Emilio’s apartment, and she then leads them to Asterisk. Elvis enters, posing as a leftist activist, and talks with a friend of Leonora’s. She tells him that Jackie believes Leonora is a government informant. Elvis flees upon seeing the Jesuit priest, but Asterisk members immediately catch him. A Russian operative, in league with the art collective, then beats Elvis. Elvis tells the Russian operative, Arkady, that he is a member of the DFS. He manages to escape, and immediately goes to see El Mago. El Mago gives Elvis a file on Sócrates, an Asterisk member with romantic feelings for Leonora.

After feeling Asterisk, Maite visits Emilio at his storefront, where she obtains the address of the journalist whom Leonora contacted. The next day, they drive to the home of the journalist, Lara. Lara confirms that although Leonora approached her, Leonora seemed nervous to share the incriminating photographs. She also reveals that Leonora arrived at her home in Maite and Rubén’s truck (which Rubén had borrowed from Jackie). Based on Lara’s description of the driver, Rubén deduces that Sócrates had driven Leonora to Lara’s home.

Elvis and another Hawk violently interrogate Sócrates. Sócrates admits that he is an informant for the DFS. After further interrogation, he confesses that he told Leonora he would place an ad in the local paper when he deemed it safe for her to come out of hiding. Elvis immediately places the ad himself, hoping to lure Leonora into the open. Later, he again visits Justo. Justo informs him that El Gazpacho is dead; he suspects that El Mago is the culprit. The next day, Anaya and his DFS men attack Elvis and accuse him of killing Sócrates. Elvis later follows Maite to a diner, where he makes eye contact with her as he plays a song on the jukebox. He considers his strong attraction to her. Later, Elvis meets with El Mago, who tells him desperately that he must find Leonora and her photos.

The day after meeting with Lara, Rubén and Maite find Sócrates dead in his apartment. They hurriedly return to Maite’s apartment, where Maite receives a call from Leonora. Rubén, paranoid of wiretapping, forces Maite to hang up. Maite is indignant and angry, and she impulsively sleeps with Rubén. They later eat at a diner, where Maite notices a man staring at her as he plays a song on the jukebox. The next day, Maite accidentally breaks the statuette she stole from Leonora. Inside, she finds the film canisters. Rubén and Maite hurry to Asterisk, where they find Jackie, Emilio, and several others. Shortly thereafter, Anaya and other DFS agents storm in. A fight ensues, and Maite flees with Emilio to his home. There, Emilio calls another journalist who will examine the photos. The supposed journalist arrives, and Maite recognizes him as Leonora’s uncle. He violently attacks her and then destroys the film negatives.

Elvis and a fellow Hawk tail Maite and Rubén to Asterisk, where Elvis notices a contingent of DFS agents. They enter the collective and kill several of the agents. Elvis allies with Arkady after Arkady kills Anaya. They hurry to Emilio’s house, where Elvis finds El Mago (Leonora’s uncle) attacking Maite. El Mago confesses to killing both Sócrates and El Gazpacho. Elvis then kills El Mago and departs the home.

Maite visits Rubén in the hospital. The next day, she encounters Leonora in the hallway. Rubén then rejects Maite’s suggestion that they move in together, and he tells her that he will likely resume his romantic relationship with Leonora. In the epilogue, Elvis approaches Maite on the bus and asks her to join him for coffee.