Devoted to Death

This new third edition of Devoted to Death: Santa Muerte, the Skeleton Saint offers a fascinating portrayal of Santa Muerte, a skeleton saint whose cult has become the fastest growing new religious movement worldwide over the past two decades. Santa Muerte has become the patron saint of drug traffickers. Yet, the Bony Lady (as she is affectionately called) plays other important roles: she is a supernatural healer, love doctor, money-maker, lawyer, and angel of death. Santa Muerte statuettes and paraphernalia now outsell those of the Virgin of Guadalupe and Saint Jude, making her without doubt one of the most popular and powerful saints of both the Latin American and American religious landscapes.