Death Comes in through the Kitchen

Havana Mystery #1

by Teresa Dovalpage

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.

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 happened to Yarmila. 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?

Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Audiobook, Crime, Food, Mystery Thriller, Historical Fiction

368 pages, Paperback

First published March 20, 2018

About the author

Teresa Dovalpage is a Cuban writer. She was born in Havana but left in 1996 for the United States where she has been living ever since. She obtained her doctorate in Latin American literature from the University of New Mexico. She has published eight novels till date. Her third novel Muerte de un murciano en La Habana (Death of a Murcian in Havana, Anagrama, 2006) was runner-up for the Premio Herralde. Her next novel El difunto Fidel (The Late Fidel) won the Rincon de la Victoria Award in Spain in 2009. She has also published several plays and short story collections.

Dovalpage lives in Taos, New Mexico and teaches at UNM Taos.

Reviews

[Dash fan · Rating 3 out of 5]

3☆ A Murder Mystery

Death Comes in through the Kitchen is a murder mystery.

When I read the blurb for the book I was intrigued and excited as I have always wanted to travel to Havana and I love murder mysteries.

Unfortunately the blurb and the plot just didn't seem to give me the same excitement.

I have to say I spent a fair amount of time confused and back tracking to work out who was who and their characters relationships. So it slowed my reading down and took me alot longer to get into the story.

The characters were not necessarily very likeable or very relatable, I do think this is because It took me a while to make connections.

Also I'm so glad I was reading on my phone kindle app, as I was able to translate any word that wasn't explained.
Now I completely appreciate the use of Cuban Spanish language as it made it Authentic and real, but there was a bit too much, that I did find myself getting frustrated.

However I did love the food blog entries.
Yarmila one of the main characters, wrote a wonderful food blog. Full of scrumptious delights that made my tummy rumble.

What I would of really loved, would of been a section at the back with some of Yarmila's delicious recipes. It would of been a lovely addition.
After reading them I definitely want to have a go at making some.

One thing I want to applaud Teresa on is her ability to transport me to Cuba. I adored the facts and information that was weaved throughout the book. I certainly learnt some things. It was quiet clear how passionate and how well researched the book is, it simply shone through!

Death Comes in through the Kitchen is a story of a young women's mysterious death.
It's a story of deceit, Secrets, lies, relationships, murder, mystery, investigations and police procedural.

This book will definitely appeal to readers who enjoy a slower paced murder mysteries, with plenty of complex characters and plenty of Cuban facts.

Thank you to Rachel Random Resources for this copy which I reviewed honestly and voluntarily.

My Review is also on my Blog Website :-

https://dashfan81.blogspot.com/2018/1...

[OutlawPoet · Rating 1 out of 5]

I can tell you when I stopped reading this book. It was some time after about the 50th stereotype and just after our main character notes that the (insert gay slur here) left the room.

It wasn't the first gay slur in the book, though others were in Spanish. But what got me more than anything was how matter of factly it was said. It wasn't because our main character was supposed to be some homophobic horror show. It wasn't supposed to be funny (and it wouldn't have been). It was just as as though this is what we call gay people.

Hint: we don't!

Our gay character (by far the nicest character in the book for the number of pages I actually read) wasn't the only stereotype in the book. He was, however, every cast member on RuPaul's Drag Race melded into one character.

Our Cuban characters? Oh, they were hyper-sexual, greedy, amoral people with no taste. (But the police officer has a lovely wide rear end.)

Our American characters? Naive, ignorant, hapless people who really sort of deserve to be taken advantage of.

Cuba was beautiful. The recipes made me want to cook and eat. The characters disgusted me.

I stopped reading this and won't be going back to it. I prefer my mysteries without stereotypes and homophobic slurs, thank you very much!

[Lori · Rating 1 out of 5]

Stupid San Diego journalist gets involved in a virtual relationship with a Cuban food blogger and thinks he is going to marry her. He arrives in Cuba with a wedding dress. She doesn't meet him at the airport, and when he arrives at her place, she's dead. The story goes downhill from there. The Cuban authorities think he's a government spy. He discovers his beloved is also seeing another man. He has no rights because he's in Cuba during a time before the United States resumed relations with the country. The dead girl is not who she appeared to be. The book falls flat, fails to engage the reader, and wastes paper or bandwidth. I received an advance reader's copy through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review, and that is the only reason I kept reading it.

[Bena Roberts · Rating 3 out of 5]

My Review

If you love Latino, food, cooking and detective work this is the book for you!



The Good

I enjoyed the start and it triggered my interest with the wedding dress. Cuba, customs etc. I enjoyed the start.



The Bad

I was a bit confused with the woman ending up dead and then the mystery of it all. I also had a bit of a problem with all the Spanish!



The Ugly

This is an OK read and holiday detective fiction



3 Stars - I read this as part of a blog tour

[Billie · Rating 2 out of 5]

A food-centric murder mystery set in Cuba? Sounds awesome, right? Unfortunately, Matt (the ostensible protagonist) was an unpleasant, condescending, judgmental asshole and the ending to the central mystery was a convenient coincidence. In other words, it's not up to the standard that I expect from Soho Crime.

Some of the recipes sounded tasty, though.

[Geoff. Lamb · Rating 4 out of 5]

Death Comes in Through the Kitchen is a surprisingly good novel, if a cynical story. That things will not be as first seen is a given by chapter 2. Matt is a conflicted character, not the person we or he might imagine. My favourite characters were detective Martinez and former detective Padrino. It is not that we learn anything especially new about Cuba or its Castro and post-Castro society. What the author does is offer panoramic view of grifters, whores (in the broadest, most societal sense of the term), and outsiders. A novel well worth reading, for the story and for the rambling recipes!

[Sheila Samuelson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rating: 3.5 Stars!!
Review:
This was my first time reading a Mystery in a series by Teresa so i wasnt sure what to expect but i have to say this one was OK for me but not what i expected.

I enjoyed learning about Cuban Culture and Food but i felt something was missing in it by Chapter 4 cause it seemed to disconnect from what the story was about which is why i felt i could only give it a 3.5 Rating.

The Characters were fun to read about tho were hard to like especially with the language barrier.

The Setting was beautifully described especially when the scenery of Cuba was described.

Overall an OK Book 1 in this Mystery Series!! I will read more by Teresa and in this series but i just hope it gets better and not like this book was.

[Navile Ponton · Rating 2 out of 5]

I picked this book up as a "Blind-Date With A Book" event at my local public library.

I can see why this book has poor ratings. Let me start by stating that I am a Cuban-American with family still living in Cuba. I have never visited, and honestly don't have intentions to. It is impossible to write anything about Cubans or Cuba without writing about politics or throwing Spanish words in the book.

What I liked:
The mystery aspect of the story was not bad at all. If this portion had been bigger in the book, I would have rated it better than I did. The Cuban historical aspect of the book is also all true, as are the politics. The correct use of slang and the truth about Cuba is all very real.

What I didn't like:
There were times when I found myself wondering if the writer was a revolutionary based on how heavy this book leaned towards Pro-Revolutionary. The cooking blog really threw me off when certain foods were mentioned, such as Lobster and Steak?? Cubans haven't eaten this type of food since my family left Cuba and that was in the early 80's. It wasn't until the end when things were explained that I understood some of the need for this, but it wasn't explained well enough. I still don't understand why it was necessary to add those elements into the book, also very Pro-Revolutionary movements from the author. I also didn't case for the "romance" portions of it. It felt like it was thrown in there because diversity was mandated, not because it was the author's choice. I also felt some of the topics were dated and I had to keep reminding myself that the setting of the book was 2003, not 2023.

Again, this is all just my take on it, I don't know anything about this author other than I wont be reading anything else by this author or continuing this series.

[Alan (the Lone Librarian) Teder · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cozy Cuban Noir
Review of the Soho Crime paperback edition (2019) of the original Soho Crime hardcover (2018)

I enjoyed the variety of this first 'Havana Mystery' by Teresa Dovalpage which is an odd mashup of a food cozy with the underlying edge of the Cuban Black Spring of 2003. There are also shifts of PoV from the American protagonist Matt and Cuban police investigator Martinez and her past mentor El Padrino, who is actually the major detective in this case and apparently in the follow-up Havana Mystery #2 Queen of Bones.

Retired police inspector El Padrino is also a Santeria priest, which adds a whole other element to the story. The inserts of Cuban food blogs are somewhat of a distraction from the forward momentum of the plot, but are still entertaining in their own way and add a somewhat foreboding edge to the story when you know how things turn out.

[Martina · Rating 3 out of 5]

A 'culinary mystery' set in 2003 Cuba with a starred review from Publishers Weekly. Who wouldn't want to read this? Well, it had me a bit off balance at first. The story moves in sections separated by posts from Yarmila's Cuban cooking blog. Matt, from San Diego, arrives in Havana prepared to ask her to marry him, but is met by a very distressful state of affairs. As I continued to read I settled in to the pace of the story and came to like several of the characters a lot, until I found that I really didn't like some of them after all. There are things to like/enjoy in this book, especially the sense of place and of how people lived in Cuba during this period. There are also some jarring bits here and there but the who and why of the murder mystery is wound out clearly. I think my favorite character is the police woman but was a bit oversold on her large derriere. This was a fast read in any case.

[Lea · Rating 3 out of 5]

*Please seek out reviews by similar voices to the author and main characters.* Written by a Cuban, set in Cuba.
This book is set in 2003. I (white cishet) personally felt while reading it that a lot of the slurs and negative stereotypes were used to authenticate the time, place and the personality of the characters, despite personally cringing at them. It is clear from reviews that others did not feel that way.
This is a mystery, not a cozy or a thriller. The main character, Matt, comes to Cuba hoping to marry a much younger Cuban woman he met on the internet through her blog. Instead he finds her dead body in her apartment. There’s a lot that comes to the surface, some of which Matt learns, most of which we learn before him. I thought the characters were interesting and well incorporated into the story. The blog recipes sounded delicious and were (originally) a lighter part of the story.
Enjoyed it enough that I plan to read the next book with overlapping characters.

[☺Trish · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had read and really enjoyed Teresa Dovalpage's novella Death of a Telenovela Star and hoped for a similar experience reading Death Comes in Though the Kitchen.
Darn, I didn't enjoy this murder mystery quite as much because many of the characters were simply unlikeable. Main character Matt is a decidedly dim and deluded divorced American journalist from San Diego. He brought a wedding dress with him on his visit to Cuba for goodness sake! He hadn't even proposed, in-person, to his Cuban "girlfriend", yet - how presumptuous!
The solution to the murder case makes sense but is somehow still unsatisfying.
Favorite characters: Padrino and Marlene Martinez
Note: There are a few jarring elements that occur as Matt's story progresses. Some sensitive readers might be turned off by
their inclusion.

[Darcysmom · Rating 2 out of 5]

I received an ARC of this book from Netgalley for free in exchange for an honest review.
Death Comes in Through the Kitchen was disappointing. The fish out of water American in Cuba could have been much more interesting. The murder mystery could have been more compelling. It was a slog to read this book through to the end - the characters were unlikable and unsympathetic and the action often got bogged down by minutiae. What kept me going were the few and far between moments where I felt like I was in Cuba with the characters.

[Jéssica · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the first book I've read by Teresa Dovalpage, and I don't know much about Cuba and I have never been there, so this book was a fun experience for me, especially since it was a mystery book and I love those.

The author gave us a flavorful book, full of mystery and culinary references, and those are two of my favorite things, especially in the past few months. And the setting gave the story this colorful and intriguing tone to it. But it wasn't just the setting that made this book stand out to me, the characters were fantastic too. From the big personalities to the interactions, it all made the storyline run smoothly and have a great dynamic.

The met Matt and I was immediately intrigued. He travels to Cuba to propose to his girlfriend Yarmila, with a wedding dress... Well, I knew she was dead because of the blurb, but there was a sense of humor in the way Matt's life was going and the unrealistic expectations. It doesn't mean I liked him or that I didn't like him... for some reason, his personality and all this thought that lead him to decide to do some strange things, like traveling with a wedding dress, made me laugh some times.

The book is well balanced because it gave us some post of Yarmila's blog. And I'm serious, I would love to follow that book and try some recipes. Maybe I will once I'm able to do it. Books that have recipes as part of the story always makes be curious and excited. So that was a bonus point in favor of this novel.

Overall, I quite enjoyed this book. And I think it was a fun book with mystery and food, in a setting that is unusual to me, but quite intriguing and colorful.

[I want to thank Rachel, at Rachel’s Random Resources, and Teresa for the eCopy of this book and for allowing me to join in the fun and by being a part of the blog tour with my honest review of the book.]

[Ev Stev · Rating 2 out of 5]

I didn’t exactly dislike this book. I wouldn’t say I liked it either. There were a lot of irrelevant points in the book, some uncomfortable/offensive scenes, and characters that were difficult to root for. The reveal was anticlimactic and the suspense was not there, but it did have some charm. I enjoyed it enough to continue reading it, but it defiantly would not be a book a read again.

[Jamie Canaves · Rating 4 out of 5]

A San Diego editor/writer flies to Cuba in 2003 to ask his Cuban girlfriend to marry him. But instead of the beginning of a great love story, Matt finds his girlfriend Yarmila dead. Now the Cuban government has taken Matt’s passport while they investigate, leaving him stuck in a communist country without a U.S. embassy. As the police and a PI santero work on solving who murdered Yarmila, we get to know her through her past food blog posts and watch as Matt learns about the Cuban girlfriend he didn’t really know that well, and himself. A good mystery set in Havana, Cuba, that gives a peak into communist life there from the point-of-view of Cubans and American tourists.

--from Book Riot's Unusual Suspects newsletter: http://link.bookriot.com/view/56a8200...

[Steph · Rating 5 out of 5]

Death Comes is equal parts mystery genre, cultural deep dive, and political commentary on both the U.S. and Cuba. This is a smart mystery novel that introduces readers to Matt Sullivan, a journalist who is not too interested in journalism. At least not the research, investigation, and tracking down of information and leads type-of-journalism. He writes food columns. He tracks down yummy recipes. The hard hitting investigation is accomplished by Compańera Martinez, the officer in charge of discovering who killed Yarmila Portal.

At the center of this mystery is Yarmila Portal’s murder. In the pursuit of finding the truth, one gets at more and more mystery. CoWorkers, lovers, neighbors, blog commenters, private investigators, and santeros all have information that give life to Yarmila, but in the end, political actors cloak Yarmila’s subterfuge in heroism on behalf of the revolution.

But was Yarmila a counter revolutionary? Was she truly a model communist? Was she a little bit of both? Was she a woman ready to leave the island? Was she infiltrating human rights organizations to rat out the gusanos? Her own writing would suggest that she served the revolution. But within this knot of political intrigue steps Matt Sullivan, a man who "meets" Yarmila through a food blog. He travels to Cuba to initiate a romance, and after spending ten days with her, falls in love with her. They keep up their long distance relationship through emails and phone calls, but when he returns to the island with a wedding ring, a used wedding dress, and culinary electronics, he finds her dead body in the bathtub. Matt’s hopes of flaunting a beautiful young woman, thirteen years his junior, in front of his ex-wife are dashed.

At this point, one would think that Matt's journalistic instincts would intuitively kick in. He supposedly loves Yarmila. He went out of his way to start the process of marriage to her. But instead, he passively lets events happen to him. He disengages. He voyeuristically wanders around Havana while Officer Martinez tracks down the clues to Yarmila’s death. Matt functions as a symbolic representation for all failed journalism. He's not truly too interested in politics, but has agreed to learn a smidge in order to connect to gain the real (or fictional) affections of Yarmila.

In the end, Matt leaves the island equally oblivious to the true impact the political has on the personal. High on yerba, he fantasizes that people who don’t even give a fig about him show up at the airport to see him off. No cultural bridge has been built by this clueless “Yuma”. He leaves the island a little bit more savvy, but still completely unaware of the depths of his ignorance.

[Jena Henry · Rating 5 out of 5]

Have you ever thought Why are so there so many books? Why do people like to read anyways, books are boring?! Well, here is my answer. Read this book and you will be hooked on reading. Death Comes in through the Kitchen by Teresa Dovalpage is an amazing, one of a kind book. I could end my review here…

…but I will tell you more because I was so entranced by this book. The author has mixed equal parts hope and history, innocence and despair, beauty and squalor to create a vivid, gritty, but surprisingly upbeat story.

Matt is a journalist writing for a small Hispanic paper in San Diego. He’s a bit lost and wistful. He’s begun writing a popular food column and that’s how he discovers a food blog, Yarmi Cooks Cuban. (The food blogs are delightful.) He and Yarmi get acquainted over the internet and he even goes to Cuba to meet her. After a year of trading more emails with the pretty and coquettish Yarmi, he again goes to Cuba in 2003, with presents and a wedding gown for his sweetheart.

Through Matt’s eyes and the people he meets, we experience a colorful Cuba, with many flavors. The author writes simply but evokes such a heart-rending kaleidoscope of the senses and emotions to convey the beauty and spirit of Cubans.

“The devil is getting married,” people said in the countryside when it rained on a sunny day.”

“And yet, the market wasn’t devoid of charm. The high ceilings lent the place a spacious feel. An array of colors made even the humblest booths look festive. The revolutionary red of the tomatoes brought out the greener-than-the palms shade of the avocados and the bright emerald of the parsley bunches. Oranges, limes and lemons were often found in the same stalls, in happy miscellany. Stout country women with stern faces hovered over their garlic, onions and tubers…”

This is a murder mystery, so there are some dark parts to the story. The murder is solved, but the mystery of Cuba remains an enigma to this day. Highly recommend.

Thanks to Rachels Random Resources for a review copy. This is my honest review.

[Kimberly Ann · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow: what a powerful book; although classified as "mystery" it is political as well. It is multi-layered and the characters are as real as one can get without being caricatures.

I was drawn in by the cover, but the title reminded me of a typical cozy, which this thankfully, certainly is not.

Matt, a food journalist from San Diego, returns to Cuba thinking that he is going to marry Yarmila, the editor of a very popular Cuban food blog written in English.

Matt arrives w/ Anne, the American cougar, who is there to hook-up w/ Yony, her Cuban boy-toy. Yony is a brisnero, a seller of hard to come by goods & taxi driver.

When Yarmila, Yarmi, does not meet Matt at the airport as promised, he goes to her apartment and finds her dead floating in her bathtub.

Matt meets & spends times w/ all of Yarmi's friends & acquaintances:
* Isabel (who runs La Calderosa, a restaurant that she partners w/ Yarmi) Isabel's husband & son (Pato Macho, Yarmi's Cuban lover);
*Yony, the purveyor of food & goods for la Caldosa & Yarmi;
*Taty, el mariconcito who works in Isabel's restaurant & a drag club; *Ramon, who runs the guest hostel that both Anne & Matt stay in,
*Carmela & Pablo, "los gusanos" who write about & publish the truth about Fidel's inhumane Cuba
* Policia Marlene, who is investigating Yarmi's murder w/ her former instructor turned Santero:
*Padrino, who both find out that Yarmi wasn't who everyone believed her to be....

This book was not only well written, but it held my interest; I only stopped reading @ 4:00 am because my eyes finally closed & refused to open.

A thick plot, sidewinders, and in the midst of it all one grand deception that blows up the lives of everyone Yarmi knew & feigned to love.

Oh yeah! recipes.... there are fantastic Cubano Recipes!

[Janet Martin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Competent mystery with less than stellar characters, but an excellent audio performance by Cynthia Farrell. The Cuban recipes included require very minimal effort or imagination. Now, that is what I thought early in the book, but it turns out to be just a bit more than one might expect. I listen to cozy mysteries or romances when I go to bed, and I probably would have dropped this book had I been of a mind to get out of bed and find something else. I stuck with it, and it started to capture my interest a few hours in--and then it made sense to finish. Believe me--things do start to happen, and while this didn't turn out to be a thriller, it does have some substance.

[Christine · Rating 4 out of 5]

An intriguing look at Cuba in the early 2000s. Matt Sullivan has been corresponding with a Cuban food blogger named Yamila Portal. They met once and then he returns home, but their correspondence continues. He decides to return to Cuba to ask her to marry him, but when he arrives, she is found dead in her bathroom. A twisting, turning, never knowing which end is up mystery, that will shock you with the ending. Enjoyed it very much, especially having been to Cuba.

[L.S. · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was immediately intrigued by this book as a result of the title and the setting. Admittedly, I know virtually nothing about Cuba, its history, nor its relationship with the US (I can say that as a Brit, although I probably shouldn't!) Anyway, I picked up the book and jumped right in.

I wasn't disappointed as huge, colourful characters with larger than life personalities jumped off the page. Vivid settings and intricate details brought vibrant stories alive.

Matt, a hopeless romantic, planning to propose to his girlfriend, Yarmi, carries a huge wedding dress through the airport - right from the start, it is obvious this plan won't end as he intends, since his American co-traveller, Anne, has already convinced him to "pretend" to the customs officials that the dress is hers.

When Yarmi is not there to meet him, he reluctantly agrees to a lift from Anne's Cuban boyfriend. Together they set off for Yarmi's apartment, only to find her dead. He is distraught, and gets taken under the wing of Yarmi's friend (and "business partner in the restaurant trade") Isabel. As he tries to reconcile Yarmi's tales with what he sees before him, it's evident that he has been tricked, although the extent is not clear until much later on.

Staying in the "penthouse" - a shed on the top floor of Isabel's building - he is exposed to some realities he does not expect. In particular, a metal bat wielding Pato Macho - who turns out to be his rival for Yarmi's affections. The next day, he moves to stay in the same guest house as his fellow traveller, Anne, where the sofa is softer, the water is hotter and the air con works.

With his passport in the hands of the police, he has to endure questioning, but has more than enough questions of his own to find answers for. He seeks the help of a former cop, the Padrino, to find out who killed Yarmi. The clues comes in thick and fast, although not in any logical sequence, which makes for a great mystery. Unravelling them, and putting the pieces together is all part of the fun.

Yarmila is definitely not the woman he thought he was to marry. Her blog posts are intended to attract foreign interest to Cuba, and her friendships within the community are not what they seem. Labelled as a young woman, loved by all, we soon learn that Yarmi is much more than an employee at the Linguistics Institute with a love of Cuban food - even her family members have a totally different story to tell.

The recipes are integral to the plot, yet often seem quite random - which, in itself, is quite genius. Whenever I thought I knew something to be true, there would be a spin. I thoroughly enjoyed this story, it was unlike anything I've read before, and both informed and entertained me. It felt like an old-school mystery, with an exotic setting, a different culture and a cast of spirited characters.

You know, sometimes, it's just good to read a story for the story itself - without having any preconceived ideas or facts to consider. For me, this was pure escapism and entertainment - and I loved it for that very reason (plus, I'm partial to a good natilla ;) ).

[Sophia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Death Comes in Through the Kitchen is a detective novel set in Cuba, where the investigation of the murder by a Santeria "priest" shares page space with blog posts that outline how to cook various items of Cuban cuisine, written by Yarmila, the victim of the murder and the girlfriend of Matt, an American who came to the country intent on marrying her.

Matt is a bit of an insecure character, a journalist in America whose characterization ranges from being compared to a "nervous high schooler" to an untrustworthy possible suspect in the eyes of the police. But as the novel continues, other characters get whole chapters through their lens. Padrino, the Santero detective, Lieutenant Martinez, Isabel, who owns an under-the-radar restaurant, Anne, the derisive American friend, and Taty, both sexualized and androgynous. And of course, there is Yarmila, ever-present, but always off-screen. Her life and drive is unpacked by others, posthumously, and we get to see everything from her parents' view of her to Matt's connection with her.

The novel's portrayal of Cuba in 2003 is absolutely fascinating. I've never learned much about Cuba, other than associations with Castro and the Cuban Missile Crisis, which is a woefully shallow amount of background knowledge with which to enter this text. However, Dovalpage deftly integrates culture with the events of the novel, letting me learn more about Cuba and Cuban culture (particular the food), without ever feeling like a newcomer. It helped that readers are first aligned with Matt, who is also American and an outsider.

The novel was also delightfully readable and well-paced. Upon reaching the ending, a quite satisfying conclusion to the mystery has unfolded, and I closed the book with a satisfied smile. While detective fiction will likely not be on my list of interests after this semester, I was glad to read an artful contemporary example of the genre of Latino/a-American detective fiction.

[Squirrel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Starts out brilliant, clever, fun, engaging, and quickly slides to moderately interesting, burdensome, and gritty. The sections are all over the place - is this maybe like the experience of Cuba?

The recipe blogs of the dead woman are the most interesting parts of the book. Their energy and charm do not carry through. Interesting characters are brought in but not developed well, and the end result is a feeling of potential unfulfilled, a tale adequately told but not enlightening.

Given the setup, I would have expected an alternate approach ... the hero shows up, and someone close to his intended is murdered. Everything else stays the same, we get to watch her squirm between all of her shady associations, try to hide the real boyfriend from him, someone (the real boyfriend, the murderer, the Santeria?) tries to sabotage some of their activities.

Instead, with the most compelling character dead, we are left with perhaps one of the weakest characters, to meander through the steps to complete this tale. As such, actions of many of the characters seem implausible and artificial, to such an extent that the clear clues as to the truth of this situation come across as less-skilled writing rather than the signals they are meant to be.

This uneven but at times captivating book makes one wonder if the others penned by this author might be more enjoyable to read - but as they are mostly murder books, perhaps not? This story offers thought-provoking insights into Cuba and Havana, yet of the type that urge me to stay away rather than learn more. I wonder if that is the writer's intention?

[Mandy Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this before reading reviews about it and I liked it. I haven’t been to Cuba and I didn’t know much about it so this story was interesting and encouraged me to google about the history of Cuba and Castro and what it is like living there. I was shocked that there was double currency and the Cubans cannot afford to eat properly or have personal businesses so it was educational in that way. I liked the use of Spanish and Cuban sayings,the author painted a vibrant picture of Cuba in my mind,Yarmi’s recipes were delicious and I am going to try some,I enjoyed her blog posts and the mystery wasn’t only about who killed her but who she was,as the story went on it revealed a lot more about Yarmi. I didn’t like Matt,he was unpleasant to people for no reason,Isabel tried to help him and he was ungrateful,he had some unpleasant opinions and Yarmi herself wasn’t that likeable. I liked Padrino and Martine. The talk of the Orishnas and how Cuban people view them was also interesting. I didn’t take it that Matts experience when he was younger made him gay but that he already had homosexual feelings and buried them,he shouldn’t have been ashamed or nasty to Taty but he was an unpleasant person.I have read other books with stereotypes such as Discount ,Agatha Raisin and other crime books and enjoyed them. Fiction should be free,I don’t want clean,politically correct books because they would be all the same and boring.Unfortunately some people do have awful points of view towards others in society but that means sometimes characters are going to have those views and be unpleasant but if that is how they are for the story we should remember they are a character.

[Lora · Rating 3 out of 5]

If I had seen how low this book was rated, I probably wouldn't have bothered to read it. But it wasn't bad, for what appears to be the author's first mystery in English (she was born and raised in Cuba but lives in the US now).

The main negatives for me were an "Am I gay?" sub-plot which didn't feel very credible to me, and a sudden ending.

The main positives were that the mystery kept me guessing and that I was genuinely nervous about the main character's fate, being an American on a non-US-authorized trip to Cuba who is a person of interest in a murder. He saw the Kafkaesque side of Cuba.

I also appreciated learning a bit about Cuban culture. They have a make-do culture, but I felt sorry for the police who couldn't afford computers or even electric fans in 2003! Everyone has a side hustle - selling (bisneros), running small restaurants (paladares), b&b (casa particular) - and although some activities are legal, everyone is guilty of something. Many believe in a strange combination of Catholic saints and Santeria gods (orisha), and in the story, a retired detective is a Santeria priest and helps solve the crime (the same way any other detective would), along with his former protegee, a younger woman detective.

As far as Cuban history goes, we learn a little about the "Special Period" when Cuba was struggling after the collapse of the Soviet Union. There was widespread hunger and an epidemic of polyneuritis, presumably caused by malnutrition and/or toxins.

The two detectives show up in other books in the series, and I might end up reading them but I'm in no hurry since this one was literally "mid."

[Susan · Rating 1 out of 5]

This was a weird story. The summary on the library's site seemed to describe a gritty story where the fiance and detective team up to solve the murder of his dead girlfriend. However, at times the book came off as a cozy mystery that was interspersed with noirish or gritty scenes. It did occur to me while reading the book that the blog posts of the victim's may have contained codes, but it was later determined by the detective that the victim was trying to influence former Cuban citizens to return by talking about how wonderful life was there. What I learned about the blog posts was that the events the victim mentioned never happened and were fake. I couldn't figure out why the victim was killed, but did have a suspicion as to who the murderer was before it was revealed. In the story there were homosexual characterizations that didn't bother me because it seemed to show the attitude of the culture in Cuba. What I found difficult was the disjointed story. The viewpoint seemed to shift without warning and not all of the characters seemed to be fully three dimensional beings and so when they were brought up, I wondered, who is this person and how are they related to what's going on? At first, I hated the blog posts that were sprinkled through the book, but then I felt that they might contain hidden clues so I tried to pay more attention to them. However, I didn't figure out anything new from them.

[Cozy Reader Lady · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Death Comes in Through the Kitchen (Havana Mystery #1)" by Teresa Dovalpage is NOT a cozy mystery despite that Goodreads has it tagged as such. There's lots of Spanish swearing, multi view point narratives, and, what for sure brings it out of cozy, a mild description of S.A. of a minor and then future sexual encounters of the same character as an adult. It's PG13 at worst, but cozy gets PG at worst. It also doesn't hit really any other cozy mystery markers either.

Despite not getting the latinx cozy mystery I was hoping for, it was an interesting mystery set in 2003 Havana, Cuba. There were multiple perspectives with the jumps between being broken up by excerpts from the victim's cooking blog. It gave an interesting perspective on Cuban culture and life. I did get a gut feeling that one character was probably the murderer right off the bat and was right in the end. Only reason I couldn't be sure is because there were motives coming from lots of directions.

Lots of Spanish, especially some of the tamer swearing and a few derogative words (often used as endearment but still derogative in past generations). I remember my abuela yelling some of them at my abuelo or even referring to my cousins and I with them, so not localized to just Cuba.

It is a good latinx mystery. Just don't read it if you're looking for a cozy mystery.

[Caroline Venables · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a really interesting mystery set in Cuba.  Apart from being a good read, I found the history and use of language added to the authenticity of the book.  I know nothing about Cuba and its history and this book gave a small insight into the country.
This is highlighted by the recipes that are included in the book, these appear as posts on Yamila’s blog.  This was a really good touch and in the context of the story added another layer.
The story starts as Matt arrives in Cuba to meet Yamila, the girl he believes he is going to marry.  When she doesn’t arrive at the airport to meet him, he thinks nothing of it.  Later that day his dreams are shattered when she is found murdered in her home.
Stuck in a unfamiliar country, with limited resources and a lack of knowledge of the country, Matt finds himself the prime suspect with no-one to help him.
Fortunately with help from a few of Yamila’s friends and acquaintances he starts to unravel the mystery that is Yamila.  It begins to emerge that she was not all she made out to be and was she cooking up a disaster for herself?

[Lynn · Rating 4 out of 5]

. Rate 4 done 3-21-20. PP The American writer met the victim through her Cuban food blog. The American boyfriend discovered the dead young Havenese victim in her bathtub. Different investigators tried to learn the identity of the murderer. The American boyfriend investigated the death somewhat ineptly. The local police investigated, as did the national security police. A colorful religious sandanista also helped investigate. There were many suspects, including a Havense boyfriend, customers at a local neighborhood restaurant, the cook at the restaurant, etc. It turns out the deceased victim held a regular job but was a secret national security employee tasked with creating good publicity for Cuba through her food blog, by pretending that the expensive food ingredients were readily available. The victim was killed by a local supplier of black market food and household supplies. He had just delivered an ironing board to the victim.