IN THE MOUTH OF THE WOLF
Former AP Mexico bureau chief Katherine Corcoran’s pulsating investigation into the murder of a legendary woman journalist on the verge of exposing government corruption in Mexico.
Regina Martínez was no stranger to retaliation. A journalist out of Mexico's Gulf Coast state of Veracruz, Regina's stories for the magazine Proceso laid out the corruption and abuse underlying Mexican politics. She was barred from press conferences, and copies of Proceso often disappeared before they made the newsstands. In 2012, shortly after Proceso published an article on corruption and two Veracruz politicians, and the magazine went missing once again, she was bludgeoned to death in her bathroom. The message was clear: No journalist in Mexico was safe.
Katherine Corcoran, then leading the Associated Press coverage of Mexico, admired Regina Martínez's work. Troubled by the news of her death, Corcoran journeyed to Veracruz to find out what had happened. Regina hadn't even written the controversial article. But did she have something else that someone didn't want published? Once there, Katherine bonded with four of Regina's grief-stricken mentees, each desperate to prove who was to blame for the death of their friend. Together they battled cover-ups, narco-officials, red tape, and threats to sift through the mess of lies-and discover what got Regina killed.
A gripping look at reporters who dare to step on the deadly “third rail,” where the state and organized crime have become indistinguishable, In the Mouth of the Wolf confronts how silencing the free press threatens basic protections and rule of law across the globe.
REVIEWS
Oxygen picked In the Mouth of the Wolf for its True Crime Book Club!
Apple Book of the Month, October
CrimeReads Most Anticipated Crime Books of 2022
NPR’s Books We Love 2022
New York Times Book Review Editor’s Choice
Lawrence Wright
Pulitzer Prize–winning author of The Looming Tower
“Corcoran’s riveting investigation into the murder of one courageous reporter becomes a forensic examination of corruption in Mexico and the threat to democracy posed by the suppression of the free press.”
MARK BOWDEN
The New York Times
“A chilling and nuanced look at press freedom in a country persistently rated among the most dangerous in the world for journalists…A murder mystery but also, more important, a portrait of a nation where no one knows what to believe, or whom to trust.” More
Booklist
“Captivating…[A] copiously detailed, compelling true-crime tale.” More
Carl Hiaasen
Author of Squeeze Me
“Hair-raising…Corcoran’s book shockingly documents the deadly perils of pursuing the truth.”
Kirkus Reviews
“A tenaciously researched work of investigative journalism…Readers will be transfixed by this alarming narrative, all the more timely as free speech, even in the U.S., is under attack yet again.” More
NPR
“Epic…A deeply reported and riveting account.” More
San Francisco Chronicle
“A gripping true-crime story [that] serves as a clarion call for the importance of a free press in a democracy.” More
The economist
“Powerful…Corcoran chronicles the perils of Mexican journalists.” More
Publishers Weekly
Starred Review
“A gripping real-life whodunit…A searing look at the unsolved 2012 murder of Regina Martínez.” More
Robert Schmuhl
Professor Emeritus of American Studies, inaugural Walter H. Annenberg-Edmund P. Joyce Chair in American Studies and Journalism at the University of Notre Dame
“The third part of In the Mouth of the Wolf is so revealing—and compelling—about the techniques and frustrations of an investigative reporter that anyone interested in a journalistic career should read it and learn from it. These pages serve as a textbook of what it takes to pursue a mysterious human drama involving corruption, drugs, and murder.”
Foreign Policy
“A captivating account of intrepid Mexican journalism [that] could not arrive at a more appropriate time…Not only is information increasingly weaponized…but American reporters covering their own country’s politics have also been increasingly assaulted.” More
CRIMEREADS
“One of the most anticipated crime books of fall 2022 (and beyond!)…A powerful chronicle.” More
Dallas Morning News
“Corcoran investigates who’s behind the death of Martinez and what’s behind the cover-up.” More
Latin American Journalism Review
“The U.S. journalist, who was for five years Bureau Chief, Mexico and Central America Associated Press, believes that in Mexico there is a historical distrust of society towards the press and that many people are unaware of the importance of journalism for the survival of democracy, unlike what happens in other countries.” More
Los Angeles Times
“Katherine Corcoran’s new book, “In the Mouth of the Wolf,” aims to uncover the truth behind Martinez’s murder while also underscoring the larger implications for civil society — and not just in Mexico.” More
