The work by Márquez follows the death of Santiago Nasar, what preceded it, and what happened afterwards. The book begins by telling the reader that Nasar is to die. Then, it shifts back to the beginning of the story as to why Santiago Nasar was to be killed. The Vicario brothers, Pedro and Pablo, murdered Santiago Nasar due to him allegedly committing adultery with Angela Vicario before she married someone else.
In the process of writing Chronicle of a Death Foretold, Márquez depicts the forces of the cultural expectations for men and women. The book is strange as it does not stick to a linear time progression, instead choosing to hop around between different timelines. It is a fresh writing technique that makes the work more entertaining to read. However, it is possible that one may become lost in the plot as they try to decipher the non-traditional storyline structure. Another discussion this book brings is the relevance of expected gender roles for men and women. It depicts how they affect the community in a non-beneficiary manner, and how the lack of gender expectations could have prevented the death of a person. I rank this book four marks from a maximum of five.