On Flashback Fridays I will share with you
the books I was not able to review
when they were first released which have been screaming at me
from my To-Be-Read bookshelf.
Mango, Mambo, and Murder (Caribbean Kitchen Mysteries)
Culinary Cozy Mystery
1st in Series
Setting – Florida
Publisher : Crooked Lane Books (October 12, 2021)
Hardcover : 336 pages
ISBN-10 : 1643857843
ISBN-13 : 978-1643857848
Paperback : 336 pages
ISBN-10 : 1639101004
ISBN-13 : 978-1639101009
Kindle ASIN : B08SWLWD8M
Food anthropologist Miriam Quiñones-Smith’s move from New York to Coral Shores, Miami, puts her academic career on hold to stay at home with her young son. Adding to her funk is an opinionated mother-in-law and a husband rekindling a friendship with his ex. Gracias to her best friend, Alma, she gets a short-term job as a Caribbean cooking expert on a Spanish-language morning TV show. But when the newly minted star attends a Women’s Club luncheon, a socialite sitting at her table suddenly falls face-first into the chicken salad, never to nibble again.
When a second woman dies soon after, suspicions coalesce around a controversial Cuban herbalist, Dr. Fuentes—especially after the morning show’s host collapses while interviewing him. Detective Pullman is not happy to find Miriam at every turn. After he catches her breaking into the doctor’s apothecary, he enlists her help as eyes and ears to the places he can’t access, namely the Spanish-speaking community and the tawny Coral Shores social scene.
As the ingredients to the deadly scheme begin blending together, Miriam is on the verge of learning how and why the women died. But her snooping may turn out to be a recipe for her own murder.
Dollycas’s Thoughts
Miriam Quiñones-Smith was happy in New York. Then her mother-in-law bought her son and grandson a house in Coral Shores, Florida, 3 blocks away from her house. Miriam, a food anthropologist, had been in line for a professorship. Now her career is on hold and she is attending a Women’s Club luncheon at the country club, and Alma, her best friend, is trying to get her to accept a job on a Spanish-language morning TV show as a Caribbean cooking expert.
Well, the luncheon takes a tragic turn when socialite Sunny Weatherman, sitting next to Miriam, passes out and plants her face into her plate of chicken salad. She dies later at the hospital. Then another woman dies and it is thought the herbal remedies Dr. Fuentes is peddling may be the cause. The theory gains traction when he appears on a morning talk show and the host interviewing him crumbles on the set. But Detective Pullman is focusing on Miriam’s friend Alma. Miriam decides she needs to help her friend which makes the good detective a little crazy. Then he admits he could use her help. She has access to places he doesn’t and she speaks Spanish fluently.
Miriam may take the detective’s request too far even though knows she is getting close to the truth about the deaths. But due to her “investigation,” she may find herself in hot water with the killer ready to strike.
I liked Miriam, she is well-educated, a great mom to her son, Manny, and an excellent cook, but she allows her very pushy mother-in-law to walk all over her. Her husband really pushed my buttons as well with his secrets and not standing up to his mother for the way she was treating his wife. I felt sorry for the woman as she tried to deal with the abuse on her own. Alma is a good friend to her but she has a lot on her plate being a murder suspect. Miriam is a bit stronger at the end of the story which gives me hope for future installments.
The mystery was well-plotted with several suspects. Miriam is almost consumed with solving the murder mystery all while starting a new job, taking care of her child and home, and jumping every time her mother-in-law demands it. She asks good questions and ruminates on the answers and clues. She follows leads sometimes when she shouldn’t but it does get Detective Pullman’s attention. He quickly nicknames her Veronica Mars even though she has no idea who that is. All the clues came together for Miriam and she was delighted when the arrest was made. I solved the case before Miriam but the way everything played out was quite entertaining.
Miriam is a Cuban American and slips easily into Spanish. She speaks almost exclusively in Spanish to her son Manny while her husband speaks to him in English to raise him bilingual. This is great and I fully support how they live their lives but I am not fluent in Spanish. I do know some words but not enough to instantly translate. Fortunately, I was reading on my Kindle which allowed me to highlight and request the translation but that really messed with the flow of the story. I wish the translation had been right there in the text.
Mango, Mambo, and Murder has laid a great foundation for this series. I feel invested in Miriam and Manny and want to see how their lives in Coral Shores develop and grow. Calypso, Corpses, and Cooking is calling from my Kindle. I hope most of the translations are in the text or I may have to sign up for a Babbel course to learn more Spanish.
I voluntarily reviewed an Advance Reader Copy. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review. Thank you to the Crooked Lane Books and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC.
Your Escape Into A Good Book Travel Agent
About the Author
Raquel V. Reyes was raised in oppositional cultures. Her early childhood was not unlike an I Love Lucy rerun with a heavy-accented, handsome Cuban father and a red-headed Southern mother whose smile brightened the room. A short story fan all her life, she has had stories published in several anthologies, including Mystery Most Theatrical, In the Midnight Hour, and Trouble No More. She lives in Miami, where she watches the waters for mermaids and leviathan. Find out more on her website.
At the time of this posting, the Kindle version of Mango, Mambo, and Murder is on sale for $1.99 on Amazon.
This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase using my links, I will receive a small commission from the sale at no cost to you. Thank you for supporting Escape With Dollycas.
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Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. Receiving a complimentary copy in no way reflected my review of this book. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.” “As an Amazon Associate, I earn a commission from qualifying purchases.”
