In the Mouth of the Wolf: A Murder, a Cover-Up, and the True Cost of Silencing the Press

Marina MENDEZ

“A society without truth is a scary place to live.” When the murder/assassination of Regina Martinez happened I was only twelve and wasn’t watching/keeping up with the news. So everything about this case and investigation was new to me and I found it to be fascinating, and scary. Regina Martinez was a journalist in Veracruz and was known for writing about corruption and abuse in Mexican politics. In 2012, shortly after she wrote an article on the corruption of two Veracruz politicians, she was bludgeoned to death in her bathroom. For context, Mexico is the most dangerous country in the world to be a journalist, outside of a war zone. At this point, fifty-one journalists had been killed in Mexico since the Committee to Protect Journalists started keeping track in 1992. While Regina’s death was broadcast globally, it didn’t help the situation for journalists in Mexico. They still dealt with corruption, blackmail, and coverups, which is what leads the majority of journalists, including the author, to believe Regina’s true cause of death was covered up. As someone who was new to this whole case, I found it both fascinating and appalling that the government/police seemed to be covering up the truth of her death. Also that they might have been responsible for her death. Overall, I think this was a well researched and presented book on Regina’s case. My only complaint was that because there are so many people interviewed for information about Regina and her case, it was easy to get confused on who was who and what their relationship was, especially in audio where I couldn’t reference the chart at the beginning. Also, I didn't really love how this was narrated. TW: murder and death; torture; stalking, monitoring, and blackmail; rape and sexual harasment;