''Cinnamon Skin'' (1982) is the twentieth novel in the

Travis McGee Travis McGee is a fictional character, created by American mystery writer John D. MacDonald. McGee is neither a police officer nor a private investigator; instead, he is a self-described "salvage consultant" who recovers others' property fo ...

series by John D. MacDonald. Like a few other books in the series, McGee ends up traveling to

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

to solve a crime. His friend Meyer's niece is killed by a bomb on the ''John Maynard Keynes'', Meyer's houseboat, with two other people. As Meyer and McGee investigate the explosion, they discover her husband, Evan Lawrence, did not die, and instead had a dark and dangerous past. In the meantime, McGee's relationship with Anne Renzetti, with whom he fell in love in the previous novel '' Free Fall in Crimson'', unravels as she pursues a business opportunity in Hawaii. Meyer names his new houseboat after

Thorstein Veblen Thorstein Bunde Veblen (; July 30, 1857 – August 3, 1929) was an American Economics, economist and Sociology, sociologist who, during his lifetime, emerged as a well-known Criticism of capitalism, critic of capitalism. In his best-known book ...

. The title of the book comes from a passage in Chapter 26.Page 274 of the first paperback release the First Ballantine Books Edition: July 1983 The passage reads as follows: ::"You smell like cinnamon and you have the right color. Cinnamon skin." ::"My God, McGee, can't you come up with something more original." ::"I thought it was." ::She laughed. "It's a song, you idiot. Piel Canela: Cinnamon Skin. They sing it all over Mexico. ..."

Notes

References

* * 1982 American novels Travis McGee (novel series) Harper & Row books Novels set in Mexico {{1980s-mystery-novel-stub