In this dissertation I analyze the novels Días de combate (1976) by Paco Ignacio Taibo II, La Mara (2004) by Rafael Ramírez Heredia and Yodo (2003) by Juan Hernández Luna as paradigms of the changes that the “neo-detective” (neopolicial in Spanish) novel has been undergoing in de last three decades of twentieth and into the twenty-first century in Mexico. I describe in detail how these authors transform the traditional narrative structure of the hard-boiled detective novel to create a more stylized inventive that reflect more closely the complex realities of contemporary Mexico. In my analysis I focus on criminal discourse, constructions of chaotic protagonists, innovation in language, and the narrative spaces that contribute to the fragmentation of the narrative, among other salient aspects. These techniques clearly delineate new directions the neo-detective genre in Mexico is forging, and how, by creating more sophisticated narratives, these authors are actively contributing to the formation of a new corpus of novels that are transforming the genre.