Apr 22, 2009

Cuban-American mystery novels by Carolina Garcia-Aguilera


Havana Heat
The Lupe Solano Mystery novels include Bloody Waters (1996), A Miracle in Paradise (1999), Havana Heat (2000), and Bitter Sugar (2001).

She drinks mojitos the way other people drink coffee, wears Manolo Blahnik heels, and hangs with the community of elite Cuban exiles living in and around South Beach, Miami.

Lupe Solano is a private investigator, the main character in a series of mystery novels by Cuban-born, Florida-bred author Carolina Garcia-Aguilera.

In the novels, the avidly anti-Castro father of the P.I. keeps a boat ready to return to Cuba at a moment's notice, at the first sign of "Cuba Libre," something he spends his life waiting for.

On at least two occasions, Lupe uses his boat to sneak into Cuba, investigating lost or confiscated property, finding people, or recovering valuable artwork for her clients. Needless to say, her secret nighttime forays into Cuba provide some good suspense.
A Miracle in Paradise

Bitter Sugar
I found out about mojitos (a drink made with mint leaves, sugar, soda water, and rum) and the Cuban American community in Florida while reading these lively mysteries.

Bloody Waters

4 comments:

  1. This book sounds like a great read! I like a good mystery!

    Thanks for visiting my site! :-)

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  2. Sounds like a great series. I love stories set in Florida, I'm not really sure why.

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  3. Thank you for your review. I am so in to Cuba at this time. I recently finished reading White Rose by Amy Ephron. It is really good. I love mysteries. So, I really enjoyed your review.

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  4. Think I might like this series! I too like books set in Florida

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