The Silver Cloud Café (1996) is the second novel by Alfredo Véa Jr. Set primarily in modern-day San Francisco, The Silver Cloud Café has the narrative frame of a mystery, but utilizes postmodern devices, manipulating time and space. It begins simply enough, at the scene of a hideous crime in the Mission District in 1993 San Francisco, but the story quickly spins out into various levels, calling attention to political-working-class themes and racial boundaries by exploring the depths of its diverse cast of characters.