Set in Havana during the Black Spring of 2003, a charming but poison-laced culinary mystery reveals the darker side of the modern Revolution, complete with authentic Cuban recipes
Havana, Cuba, 2003: Matt, a San Diego journalist, arrives in Havana to marry his girlfriend, Yarmila, a 24-year-old Cuban woman whom he first met through her food blog. But Yarmi isn’t there to meet him at the airport, and when he hitches a ride to her apartment, he finds her lying dead in the bathtub.
With Yarmi’s murder, lovelorn Matt is immediately embroiled in a Cuban adventure he didn’t bargain for. The police and secret service have him down as their main suspect, and in an effort to clear his name, he must embark on his own investigation into what really happened. The more Matt learns about his erstwhile fiancée, though, the more he realizes he had no idea who she was at all—but did anyone?
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Amazon US - https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1616958847
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Q & A
Teresa Dovalpage
What is your idea of perfect happiness?
A rainy day with a book and my three dogs cuddled up with me. Even more perfect will be having a cat around but I am catless now.
What is your greatest fear?
Forgetting words: how to string them together, how to play with them…Not long ago I read a book about aphasia, described as “a condition that robs you of the ability to communicate.” For a writer, no fate is worse than that.
What is the trait you most deplore in yourself?
Saying yes when I want to say no. Saying no when I want to say yes.
What is the trait you most deplore in others?
Not being direct enough, though I am often guilty of the same!
What is your greatest extravagance?
Vintage furniture, at this moment. I am eyeing an Art Deco buffet I just saw in a secondhand store. Uff. Why is the past so expensive?
What is your current state of mind?
Happy. Pink and fluffy. It’s raining in Hobbs, which is rare. That makes me happy. But the dogs are in the backyard waiting for squirrels to chase.
What do you consider the most overrated virtue?
Patience!
On what occasion do you lie?
When telling the truth may cause unnecessary suffering.
Which words or phrases do you most overuse?
Carajo! (A Spanish curse word).
If you were to die and come back as a person or a thing, what would it be?
May I go back in time? I want to be born in the early 20th century and come back as a flapper, bobbed hair and everything.
Where would you most like to live?
It changes with time and travels, but at this moment is Viviers a quaint, tiny and delightful town in the south of France.
Author Bio –
Teresa Dovalpage is a Cuban transplant now firmly rooted in New Mexico. She was born in Havana and now lives in Hobbs, where she is a Spanish and ESL professor at New Mexico Junior College.
She has published nine novels and three collections of short stories. Her English-language novels are A Girl like Che Guevara (Soho Press, 2004), Habanera, a Portrait of a Cuban Family (Floricanto Press, 2010), and Death Comes in Through the Kitchen (Soho Crime, 2018), a culinary mystery with authentic Cuban recipes.
Her novellas Las Muertas de la West Mesa (The West Mesa Murders, based on a real event), Sisters in Tea/ Hermanas en Té and Death by Smartphone/ Muerte por Smartphone were published in serialized format by Taos News.
In her native Spanish she has authored the novels Muerte de un murciano en La Habana (Death of a Murcian in Havana, Anagrama, 2006, a runner-up for the Herralde Award in Spain), El difunto Fidel (The late Fidel, Renacimiento, 2011, that won the Rincon de la Victoria Award in Spain in 2009), Posesas de La Habana (Haunted ladies of Havana, PurePlay Press, 2004), La Regenta en La Habana (Edebe Group, Spain, 2012), Orfeo en el Caribe (Atmósfera Literaria, Spain, 2013), and El retorno de la expatriada (The Expat’s Return, Egales, Spain, 2014).
Street in Viviers
Social Media Links –
Blog in English: https://teredovalpage.com/
Blog in Spanish: https://teresadovalpage.com/
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