"In My Hands" by Sarah Cortez

From: The Hit List: The Best of Latino Mystery ed. Sarah Cortez and Liz Martinez, Arte Publico Press, 2006.

This story details the unlikely friendship between go-getter real estate agent Calais and gold-digger Elizabeth. Elizabeth and her handsome husband Winston seem like the perfect couple until Winston leaves her for a younger woman. Distraught, Elizabeth becomes convinced Winston will try to kill her to get out of paying alimony.

One day, Elizabeth goes missing, and her friend Kathy asks Calais to check on her. Discovering what appears to be a struggle, Calais imagines what might have happened and how she can turn it to her advantage.

Cortez meticulously spins the clues into two different scenarios and shows how quickly friends can turn on each other.

"Freddie Prinze is My Guardian Angel" by Liz Martínez

From: Manhattan Noir ed. Lawrence Block. Akashic Books, 2006.

Freddie Prinze first appears to the narrator while she's praying the Rosary on the fourth anniversary of his death. "You're supposed to join the NYPD," he says.

Already infatuated with Prinze, the narrator follows his cryptic, counterintuitive advice in smaller things, persisting even when it turns out badly for her. Prinze appears unpredictably throughout her teens and early twenties, and finally she agrees to apply to the NYPD.

A morbidly funny story highlighted by the narrator's engaging voice and blind faith in Prinze.