The Inquisition in Spanish America presents something of a riddle to historians of the colonial period. Should we view the Holy Office as a medieval institution persisting into early modern times, or a modern one ahead of its time? Did its power make it central to colonial life, or did its persecution of crypto-Jews and Protestants make it marginal in colonies where most people were of indigenous or African descent? Was it more mocked or feared? Why does it still ‘mesmerize us and challenge us to understand its logic and its behavior’, as Asunción Lavrin puts it in the preface to John F. Chuchiak's superb ‘documentary history’ of The Inquisition in New Spain (p. xv)? Do Inquisition records just tell us about the Inquisition, or do they open ‘a window into the past not matched by most historical records’, as asserted by Luis Corteguera in the preface to his fascinating case study, Death by Effigy (p. xvii)?

Answers to these questions are suggested in various ways by these new books, both of which are mid-career offerings by seasoned scholars who have developed an extensive understanding of the early modern/colonial Spanish world (Corteguera's first book was on popular politics in early modern Barcelona; Chuchiak has been writing for two decades on colonial Yucatán). The approach and structure of each book is very different from the other, but they both illuminate how and why the Inquisition functioned in colonial Mexico in complementary and thought-provoking ways.

Any reader searching for an interpretative understanding of the Mexican Inquisition, and tempted to dismiss Chuchiak's volume as a mere collection of documents, should think twice. If not quite a monograph, the book is monographic in nature. While its stated purpose is to present 57 Inquisition documents in English translation, its analytical and historiographical impact goes far beyond the utilitarian business of editing archival sources. It is, in other words, hefty in more ways than one. There are three reasons for this. The first is Chuchiak's analysis: he has a profound grasp of the topic and conveys it clearly and thoroughly. Over 120 of the book's 428 oversized pages are devoted to Chuchiak's explanations and insights, including chapter introductions, endnotes and a 55-page introductory study that is likely to become the indispensable guide to how the Inquisition functioned in any New World colony. The second reason is the book's organisation; the documents have been thoughtfully sequenced within three ‘Parts’, divided into a total of 14 chapters. These are thematic, not regional or chronological (although Chuchiak devotes attention to regional differences and developments over time), and they are effective whether one wishes to read the book from start to finish or to research a specific subject (such as torture, prison cells, prohibited books, bigamy, blasphemy, Inquisition finances, or sorcery and witchcraft). The third reason why the book is so much more than a mere collection of documents is its supplementary materials: features such as maps, illustrations, tables and the bibliography are all notably well executed and presented, with the glossary being worthy of special mention (every single student of any topic in the history of colonial Latin America should study it and keep a copy at hand).

One of the virtues of Chuchiak's book is that he has carefully selected these 57 documents from the tens of thousands that are preserved in the 1,555 legajos (bound volumes) of Inquisition records in the Archivo General de la Nación (General Archive of the Nation, AGN) in Mexico City. We benefit from his two decades of research in the archive, from the test pits that he has artfully chosen to dig in that vast repository; of his 57 selections, 56 have never been published in English and 51 have never been published in any language. In contrast, Corteguera's Death by Effigy is a book-length study of just a single Inquisition case. Admittedly the case produced nine trials, with over 700 pages of legal records surviving in the Huntington Library in California and in the AGN, but the trials all stemmed from ‘little more than a minor, one-day incident in a provincial town’ (p. xi) in Central Mexico in 1578. If this seems like a big fuss over a small matter, that is exactly how Corteguera sets up the case – and it's a set-up that he constructs artfully and effectively. Although the crime itself is petty – effigies and a sign hung on the front of the parish church suggest that a local merchant is a crypto-Jew – we want to know who committed it because Inquisition investigators want to know, and they are willing to use their authority (including the power to put suspects to torture) in order to find out. This is, of course, a tribute to Corteguera's use of classic ‘whodunnit’ techniques. There is no need for a spoiler alert here; out of respect for Corteguera's skill, I will resist the temptation to reveal or comment upon the outcome of the investigations and trials. Once you begin this book, you will want to find out for yourself.

While both these books tell us much about the Inquisition and its role in Spanish America, in the end they reveal more about how Inquisition cases and their written record can be used to reconstruct aspects of colonial society. If the Holy Office is a puzzle, Chuchiak has selected a small percentage of the puzzle's total pieces, but they have been chosen and placed on the table to give us a good sense of the total picture; Corteguera, on the other hand, has selected a single puzzle piece, but analysed and contextualised its example with sufficient skill and detail as to reveal something new about life in early colonial Mexico. Indeed, both these books are a revelation and a pleasure. They will be much appreciated by scholars and students of colonial Latin America.