Palms, Paradise, Poison by John Keyse-Walker

 

First Line: "A hurricane is like a wanton woman," my Dada used to say.

 

Life in the British Virgin Islands means that hurricanes are part of the natural scheme of things. When Hurricane Leatha roars in, Constable Teddy Creque expects a power outage. He expects flooding. He expects the phones not to work. His primary concern is keeping all two hundred residents of the small island of Anegada safe. 

 

When he receives a radioed message from headquarters warning of a dangerous escaped criminal, Teddy has other things on his mind like saving a man on a sinking boat, but he does make the capture. The woman prefers to be called Queen Ya-Ya and is a practitioner of ancient Afro-Cuban rites.  She doesn't seem all that dangerous to Teddy, but when she manages to kill a man from inside her locked cell and then vanish, Teddy has no choice but to reconsider. 

When the hurricane moves out and life begins to return to normal, there's no sign of Queen Ya-Ya, and she is presumed to have drowned after escaping in a stolen boat. But when that boat turns up on a beach in Cuba, Teddy is called upon to go to investigate.

~

I was looking forward to meeting Constable Teddy Creque again, and he did not disappoint. One of the things I've enjoyed about this series is its depiction of the life and culture of a small island in the British Virgin Islands. In Palms, Paradise, Poison, I learned how ancient beliefs are a part of this life and how they can be twisted in the wrong person's hands. 

This third book in the series has some gorgeous descriptions of the landscape and wildlife on Caribbean islands, and I loved learning about Cayo Saetia, Fidel Castro's favorite little island off the coast of Cuba. The hurricane scenes are powerful and kept me on tenterhooks throughout the beginning of the book. (After reading Ann Cleeves' Vera Stanhope mysteries and now Keyse-Walker's Teddy Creque books, I'm convinced I need to trade in my Jeep for an old Land Rover.)

Teddy gets to go on a road trip with Cuban police officer Luz Garcia, and their eventual capture of Queen Ya-Ya does not go smoothly. As interesting as this all is, Palms, Paradise, Poison is also a story of a man reinventing his life after the death of his wife. Teddy Creque wasn't a very admirable man at the beginning of the series, and his wife's death threw him into a downward spiral of depression and alcohol. Now he's met the right woman, and they and their blended family of three children are happy... but is Teddy as reformed as he thinks he is? If temptation arises, will he be able to resist?

I enjoyed this book, the hurricane, the travels through Cuba, the apprehension of Queen Ya-Ya, and seeing what Teddy's done with his life since the second book, Beach, Breeze, Bloodshed. Now I'm eager to find out what's next for this constable on a small Caribbean island. Bring it on.

Palms, Paradise, Poison by John Keyse-Walker

eISBN: 9781448306282

Severn House © 2021

eBook, 224 pages

 

Police Procedural, #3 Teddy Creque mystery

Rating: A

Source: Net Galley

The Figure in the Photograph by Kevin Sullivan

First Line: One week before Christmas in 1897, we entered a hamlet on the way to Cárdenas.

Juan Camarón and his father are only a few steps ahead of battling armies as they travel across Cuba in the summer of 1898. They've been paid to photograph the island's architecture before it is lost. Tragedy strikes when Juan's father is killed and his last photo provides proof that he was not a random victim of war-- he was murdered.

Learning he has inherited property in Scotland, Juan travels to Glasgow where he focuses on his study of photography. His invention of a new device that inadvertently solves a crime brings him to the attention of the local police, and he is asked to help them hunt down a brutal serial killer plaguing the city streets.

The Figure in the Photograph is a book that I wanted to like a lot more than I did. As it is, the only thing I did enjoy was the element of early photography.

There's an abrupt location change from Cuba to Scotland, and I was left wondering if the entire opening in Cuba was really necessary. The story is long and slow and-- except for the photography-- almost completely uninteresting. Even though the book is set in Glasgow and not London, you'd think there would be at least one comparison of the killer to Jack the Ripper, but there's not. Oversight or intentional? I'll never know, but it might have perked me up.

None of the characters, with the exception of a homeless boy Juan befriends, engaged my interest, and even that young boy was underutilized. With so little that captured my attention, why did I keep reading The Figure in the Photograph? I honestly don't know. If you decide to give this book a try, I really hope your mileage varies.

The Figure in the Photograph by Kevin Sullivan

ASIN: B081S3BLDD

Allison & Busby © 2020

eBook, 352 pages

Historical Mystery

Rating: D

Source: Net Galley

Death Comes in through the Kitchen by Teresa Dovalpage

First Line: The Cuban customs officer lifted an eyebrow at the bridal gown-- a white satin bodice with tulle appliqués, sheer sleeves, and a two-foot train-- and took a long suspicious look at the couple.

After meeting her through her food blog, Yarmi Cooks Cuban, San Diego journalist Matt Sullivan flies to Havana to marry his twenty-four-year-old blogger girlfriend. But something is wrong: she doesn't meet him at the airport as planned. When Matt arrives at Yarmila's apartment, he finds her lying dead in the bathtub.

Naturally, the Cuban police and secret service have him down as their main suspect, so Matt has to conduct his own investigation into what really happened. However, the more he learns about his fiancée the more he realizes that he didn't know her at all... and he's beginning to think that no one else did either.

Cuban-born Teresa Dovalpage takes readers right into the heart of Havana; indeed, the setting was one of my favorite parts of the book. The other part I liked was the mystery itself surrounding Yarmila the food blogger. Having Matt realize that he really didn't know her was to be expected; what does come as a surprise is just what Yarmila was up to.

Unfortunately, except for Lieutenant Marlene Martínez of the magnificent posterior, none of the rest of the characters fired me up at all. Even the lieutenant fell a bit short, but I did like watching her run her investigation into Yarmila's death. Matt Sullivan, the main character, was particularly disappointing. He was gullible and ineffectual and more than once behaved like the sort of entitled American that makes me cringe.

Death Comes in through the Kitchen's setting and mystery are the stars of the show, but the characterization and pacing definitely need some work.

Death Comes in through the Kitchen by Teresa Dovalpage

ISBN: 9781616958848

Soho Crime © 2018

Hardcover, 368 pages

Police Procedural, Standalone

Rating: C

Source: the publisher


 

The Beggar's Opera by Peggy Blair

First Line: Ricky Ramirez's parents stood on the other side of the door, speaking in hushed tones with the doctors.

Canadian police detective Mike Ellis has brought his wife to Havana, Cuba, in an attempt to heal his marriage and to heal from the lingering aftereffects of being wounded in a situation in which his partner was killed. Feeling compassion for one of the little boys begging for money along the shore, he gives the youngster a few pesos. When the boy's body is pulled from the sea the next day, witnesses remember Ellis, and he finds himself charged with murder and thrown in jail.

It is up to Inspector Ricardo Ramirez to investigate the murder and find the proof that will put Ellis in front of the firing squad. According to Cuban law, he has only 72 hours to secure the indictment that will prevent a vicious killer from leaving the country. However, Ramirez has other things on his mind-- like the fact that he's dying from the same incurable dementia that killed his grandmother. As Ramirez races against the clock, he is haunted by the ghosts of the victims of his unsolved cases... ghosts that only he can see.

I found this book to be fascinating for its look at present-day Cuba and of Old Havana, a city that used to be one of the world's hubs of prurient delight. Blair incorporates Cuban life under decades of Fidel Castro's rule into her story: the laws, the multitudes of highly educated people who are forced to work menial jobs because there's nothing else available, and-- most of all-- the humor with which so many Cubans leaven their daily lives. For this look at Cuba alone, The Beggar's Opera is a very worthwhile read.

The mystery is also an absorbing one. Although I deduced one of the plot twists, Blair blindsided me with another, and for a mystery reader that's always a happy moment. However, I had a major problem with the book's main character. Inspector Ricardo Ramirez did not set well with me at all. If not for a Canadian lawyer sent down to help Ellis (and who wound up doing most of Ramirez's work for him), Ramirez would've been content to hand in his circumstantial evidence, get his indictment, and send Ellis to the tender ministrations of the firing squad. Did I just give away a major plot point? For crime fiction aficionados, not really. As I said, there are some surprising twists and turns in this plot. What intrigues me is how much of Ramirez's attitude can be attributed to his dementia, and since I really do want to know, I'll be looking forward to the next book in this series. I wouldn't mind a return trip to Havana.

The Beggar's Opera by Peggy Blair

ISBN: 9780143186427

Pintail © 2013

Paperback, 352 pages

Police Procedural, #1 Inspector Ricardo Ramirez mystery

Rating: B-

Source: Amazon Vine