The Story
Manila, 1935.
When Petra de Alcaraz boards the SS Corregidor bound for Manila, she expects nothing more than an uneasy voyage away from Leyte and the quiet burdens of provincial life. But somewhere between storm-dark waters and whispered conversations aboard ship, a powerful man falls to his death—and leaves behind secrets capable of destroying some of the most influential names in the Philippines.
As Manila’s rain-soaked streets pull her deeper into a dangerous world of shipping magnates, political alliances, hidden manifests, and carefully buried scandals, Petra discovers that the dead man was only one piece of a much older corruption stretching from provincial ports to the highest circles of power.
With the help of the sharp-witted Clarita Rodriguez and the guarded Elena Roces, Petra uncovers truths tied not only to Antonio Velasquez, but also to her own father’s troubled past and a generation of men who learned to survive through compromise.
Set against the fading elegance of prewar Manila, Perfume Over Corregidor is a literary historical mystery filled with intrigue, dangerous loyalties, and women determined to uncover the truth in a society where silence protects the powerful more often than the innocent.
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About the Author
Books have been a lifelong companion for Mario Cornista Ochon. From detective mysteries and sweeping adventures to classic science fiction, storytelling shaped his imagination long before he ever considered writing his own novels.
After spending more than fifty years in marketing agricultural equipment, he discovered that storytelling was not limited to fiction. It was also the most powerful way to explain ideas, inspire confidence, and help people see a larger vision. Those years in business would later influence his first nonfiction work, Strategic Planning for Marketing Companies.
Retirement finally gave him the opportunity to return to the stories that first inspired him. Writing fiction did not feel like starting something new so much as returning to something deeply familiar.
Perfume Over Corregidor, his first novel of The Petra Story series, blends his love of historical mysteries, literary suspense, and Philippine history into a story shaped by memory, atmosphere, and human complexity. It marks the beginning of a new series of historical noir novels exploring power, corruption, family, and survival in prewar Philippines.
