Weeks after a suspicious accident in Havana claims the life of a tourist, Roger and Suzanne retrace the victim’s steps as they try to figure out whodunit and why. Intrigue and conspiracies abound in this international thriller set in Cuba, a tropical island that U. S. citizens have been forbidden to visit for more than half a century.
After more than half a century, U.S. citizens can once again take a cruise ship or a scheduled airline flight to Cuba.What’s it like?From a review of this Roger and Suzanne mystery novel :“As normalization of relations between the U.S. and Cuba gives American tourists the opportunity to visit the island, this exciting novel provides a real glimpse into a country that was literally frozen in time for over fifty years.The author and his wife recently took a people-to-people tour and provide interesting historic and cultural highlights sprinkled into a fictional account of murder, espionage, and intrigue...This complicated novel is spiced with Latin flavor and sightseeing nuggets, but the tale of murder and espionage is sure to please any mystery/adventure enthusiast.If you wonder what the real world is like inside Cuba, take this exciting trip with Roger and Suzanne from the safety of your own home.”This book can be read as a series entry or a fully standalone novel.Free from Kindle Unlimited.
Excerpt
Over the next few days Suzanne handled all the paperwork and logistics for our travel to and from Miami and officially getting on the tour. I eventually reached the other participants from Delbert Sherman’s unfortunate previous tour. They all echoed the previous comments that nobody really got to know Del or his wife during the tour. Which brought us to Mrs. Sherman, who I wanted to interview live.
She agreed to see me at her house in Irvine. I drove down there through heavy traffic on interstate highway 405. With a lot of guidance from my GPS, I found my way to a very upscale, gated, community tucked way back from the highway in a hilly area with spectacular views of the Pacific Ocean off to the west.
She answered the door herself when I rang the bell. About 5 foot seven, early 30s, long blond hair, designer jeans and t-shirt, she was a real beauty who looked every inch the ideal trophy wife. She greeted me formally, offering her hand to shake before leading me back to a comfortable looking sofa in the family room, which featured a large flat screen TV current turned off, soft classical music coming from a hidden source, and comfortable seating for upwards of a half dozen people. She offered wine, which I declined, and coffee, which I accepted. She opted for the wine, red I noticed, and a seat in a comfortable chair directly across the coffee table from me.
“Thank you for agreeing to speak with me, Mrs. Sherman,” I began, casually turning on a small digital recorder concealed in my jacket pocket.
“Connie, please, Mr. Bowman. Mrs. Sherman sounds like my mother-in-law, not me.”
“OK, as long as you call me Roger,” I replied. The first thing I’d learned when I read Detecting for Dummies was that informality really improved the quality of information you could obtain when you first interviewed a suspect or a witness in a criminal case.
Connie Sherman took a sip of wine, took a good long look directly at me, and replied, “I’ve never been interviewed by a detective before, Roger. Do we just chat, or do you want to ask me questions?”
“Can we start with a few questions, please? I really don’t know anything about you or your former husband. And please accept my sympathy for your loss.”
She settled back in her chair, looking relaxed. “I’ll try to answer your questions as well as I can.”
“I’ve heard your husband referred to as Dr. Sherman. What kind of doctor was he?”
“Del was an oncologist on the faculty of the Medical School at UC Irvine. He saw patients, taught medical students, and did his research on possible new cures for pancreatic and liver cancer.”
I took a sip of coffee before leaning back in as relaxed and unthreatening a position as I could find before asking a more personal question. “How did you meet your husband, Connie?”
“I was, and still am, a postdoctoral fellow in his laboratory research group at UCI. I lead a small group in his laboratory studying ways to stimulate the innate immune system to attack cancers we can induce in the liver and pancreas of transgenic mice. They are specially bred with certain tumor suppressor genes knocked out so they have a predilection to get tumors in these organs.”
I quickly revised my first impression of Connie as being a trophy wife. “Forgive the question, but how old was Del?”
Connie laughed. “Are you thinking I’m older than you thought or that Del must have been a lot younger than you believed?”
I took another sip of coffee while I considered the best answer to that one. “Some of each, I guess.”
She smiled as she remembered the history. “Del graduated from Stanford Medical School with a combined M.D.-Ph.D. degree, completed his residency in Internal Medicine and a fellowship in Hematology and Oncology at UCLA, and became an Assistant Professor here at UCI four years ago. I was the first post-doc to join his lab, three years ago, just after I got my Ph.D. degree in Molecular Biology from UC San Diego. We were celebrating his 36th birthday when we took the tour to Cuba. And for the record, I’m 30.
“Did you understand any of what I’ve been telling you, Roger?” she asked politely.
I thought quickly about how to play this. Back to Detecting for Dummies---the second thing I’d learned was to build rapport with the suspect or witness whenever this is possible. “I think so, Connie. My wife is a Professor of Biochemistry at UCLA who does research in some areas very similar to what you just described.”
Connie actually blushed. “I think I just underestimated you the same way you may have underestimated me when you got your first look. Maybe we should just start over at this point. What’s your wife’s professional name? I know a lot of the faculty at UCLA and I don’t know of anyone named Bowman there.”
Professional Reviews
Great addition to the series
The author does not disappoint in this latest book in this series. Very individual, well-developed characters, a nicely arranged plot line and as always a wonderful 'inside look' at the countryside and people of a Latin American country. These are the kind of characters I always look forward to revisiting, both in a re-read and in new adventures.
Cuba is an excellent setting, and having just been there myself
Somewhat of a mix between Walter Mosley's derelict imagery and The Thin Man's sublime dialog, if that makes sense. Cuba is an excellent setting, and having just been there myself, the choice of scene is spot on. More, given Cuba's current tech conditions and general state of infrastructure, it's the perfect supporting actor for a plot development that seems to draw from the same well as the best older mystery novels. The only thing that sucks, at least for you who are reading this review, is that I'm a patent attorney (like the lead character), and so I was likely to give this 5 stars regardless. Worth the read, particularly if you've been to Cuba, or if you're interested in going.
Cuba!
As usual, the author's intelligence is clear, maybe odd thing to say, but I don't feel any wasted time. Says what needs to be said, great balance of the facts and descriptive narratives, for this reader. Moves beautifully, and I found just the right amount of times I was on the edge if my seat. Though I could have done without the brutal breaking of bones, etc. details.
I learned a lot, always enjoy that about his books.
It is a great story, very well told.
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