Death of a Telenovela Star

Havana Mystery #3

by Teresa Dovalpage

Teresa Dovalpage’s deliciously twisted novella, set on a Caribbean cruise, showcases the dark—sometimes deadly—side of celebrity.

Former Havana detective Marlene Martínez, now happily running a bakery in Miami, has booked a week-long cruise to Mexico and the Caribbean with her niece, Sarita, as the girl’s quinceañera present. Sarita is beyond thrilled to discover that a Cuban telenovela star, Carloalberto, is also aboard for the trip.

But even while trying to keep her niece away from the unsettlingly handsome actor, Marlene gets the feeling Carloalberto is in some kind of trouble—he is constantly on edge, and shady characters seem to find their way to him. When murder occurs aboard the North Star, Marlene will rely on instincts she hoped never to use again.

Genres: Mystery, Crime, Romance, Audiobook, Mystery Thriller, Novella

144 pages, Paperback

First published August 25, 2020

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

[Lucía · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very interesting but waaaaay too short

[Sarah B · Rating 4 out of 5]

I started reading this novella tonight and found myself totally hooked on the story. It follows a 15-year-old girl and her aunt (who used to be a cop in Cuba) as they go on a cruise. On the same ship is a famous actor that the teenage girl is a big fan of. Unfortunately he has a few very bad habits...

While the story was very smooth flowing and I found the characters interesting, it's not exactly your standard mystery. A few of the usual elements that some might really enjoy are missing through the majority of the story. But to be honest I really didn't notice that until after the story was done! This reads very much like a drama. So no chills or thrills here.

Did I guess who the killer was? No... I must admit that bit truly shocked me! I sure hadn't seen that coming. At all! In fact the idea never crossed my mind! I guess I would make a very bad detective!

This book is good enough that I read the whole thing in one sitting and stayed up past my usual bedtime to finish it!

Oh...and a very shocking ending too! Don't you just love a good twist?

[☺Trish · Rating 4 out of 5]

Death of a Telenovela Star is a quick read with some interesting twists and turns. I did not guess who the murderer is. I really liked the main character Marlene and would read more of her adventures in the future.

[Ana · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 stars *may change
y’all are just being mean in the reviews lol this was fine 😭 maybe it’s cause i’m cuban

[Erin Larson-Burnett · Rating 3 out of 5]

I picked this up because it was available on Libby and I was after something I could read quickly before going to bed, but I was pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed it! Honestly, were it not for the rather bland murder mystery storyline (which kicked off WAY later than expected), I think I would have given it five stars; I really enjoyed the author's writing style and the fun aunt-niece dynamic.

But yeah, the murder mystery was flat and unsurprising and the "sleuthing" lasted all of half a page, so that was a little underwhelming.

[Joan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book because it deals with 2 of my favourite topics - cruising and Cuba.

Former Havana police detective, Marlene Martinez, is now the proud owner of a Cuban bakery humorously named The Bakeria Cubana (although only bilingual speakers would get the joke, a sort of Spanglish). When she takes her niece, Sarita, on a quinceanera gift cruise, her niece is excited to hear that a Cuban telenovela actor, known more for his looks than his acting skill, is on the same cruise.

We learn a bit about Marlene's past - her boyfriend convinced her to swap her late mother's home in Havana to move to a beach area (It used to be that Cuban's could not sell houses, only switch them). He sold all the furniture for $100, saying he knew someone who could build them new things, as it was not worth the cost of moving her mother's shabby old things. She soon learns that the new house may be newer, but it is in poor condition and the furniture is even shabbier that her mother's. Even worse, she finds her boyfriend already knows the people who live next door, a single woman with 2 children. One day when her police station is being fumigated, Marlene goes home and finds him in bed with the girl in the other half of their duplex. Thankfully she does not have her police weapon with her, but she still manages to put the pair in the hospital. Later on she discovers that Yoel is married to an older woman in Britain who is trying to bring him over (which she eventually does).

Sarita follows her telenovela idol around the ship, hoping to get a selfie with him, his wife, and a screen writer. He goes overboard before she gets the opportunity.

Marlene meets Benito, a chef/pastry maker on the ship and quickly becomes friends with him. They make an interesting couple and I hope we see all the same characters in a future book.

[abbyobsessesoverbooks · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was a quick, not really great read.  I wanted this to be so much more but it was severely lacking. Everything was very surface level and so much of it was unnecessary information that the actual plot got lost.

Examples? A page was dedicated to a dialogue of tomato paste. There was a full chapter describing an ancient Mayan game (which would be interesting but this is a very short book and that was too long). And the murder doesn't happen until 70 pages in.

[bookishjaybird · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was such a cute, quick, great read! I finished it in a little over an hour and it was so so cute. I wish there were more books featuring Marlene, I enjoyed her so much as a character. I felt like her niece was a bit of an annoyance but she didn’t ruin the story overall. Absolute love and definitely an author I’ll be reading again!

[Tony · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm happy to see Soho Crime giving attention to the Novella by releasing this fine tale by Teresa Dovalpage with her series character, Marlene Martinez. Based on this one, I hope to see more novellas from Soho Crime by Dovalpage as well as Soho's other authors.

[Rachel · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Ese huevo quiere sal."

[Magdalene · Rating 4 out of 5]

A quick and entertaining read.

[Amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not exactly a groundbreaking piece of literature, but a fun, short read.

[Fiona · Rating 3 out of 5]

A quick, easy, and fun read.

Marlene used to be a police detective in Havana before moving to Miami to open a bakery. Her niece, Sarita, has just turned 15. As a quinceañera present, Marlene takes her on a cruise to Belize, Costa Maya, and Cozumel. One of the other guests on the cruise is Carlosalberto who is a handsome and budding telenovela star. He is traveling with Emma, his wife, and Helen, a screenwriter that he has been working with. Sarita is a top fan and is in love with Carlosalberto. Marlene is not so impressed. However, she met the baker on the cruise and was impressed with him. After the port stop in Costa Maya, there is one missing guest: Carlosalberto. A video was found on his cell phone indicating that he was sad with his life and wanting to end it. Is this a suicide? Marlene, being a former detective, has her doubts. She thinks there is something "off" with the video. Was that a splash she heard one night? Did he have gambling debts?

There were a few Spanish words and sayings but were described later in the paragraph. I even caught on to the Spanish wordplays.

This novella is a fun read.

[alisa (๑◡๑) · Rating 2 out of 5]

been in a super huge reading slump, and i picked up this book because i had 5 other ones in my library bag and i absolutely cannot leave until i have an even number of books. anyways i ended up sitting in the library and finishing all of this book in an hour and a half ish.

i really did not like this book, and i think the length played a huge role in this. yes it was easy to finish and was the first book i havent dnfed for a while, but the characters were shallow and the book was paced awfully—the first 100 pages were all “filler” and the crime was magically solved within a page and a half (in which the murderer just simply CONFESSED??). more on the characters—built on stereotypes, awfully written (yes im looking at you marlene (ithinkthatshername) ) and remind me of patrick in that one spongebob episode where hes trying to nail a plank and ends up hammering it into his forehead.

all of that being said, sometimes you really do need an awful trashy read to get you through the day

[Jess Upon A Time · Rating 4 out of 5]

A quick mystery to read, I enjoyed it! Honestly it’s kinda nice to read a book that isn’t excessively long. Some of the Spanish sayings were little weird to me. I am Mexican so maybe they were Cuban sayings bc they made no sense to me.
The niece was annoying but she’s a teenager so of course she is. Marlene was alright, I don’t really have complaints. Learning about her past was interesting! I’d love to read more about her adventures as a cop/detective.

[Reba · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good vibes first: I love the ending. The lead allowing the murderer to get away with it is not what I expected from the retired detective turned bakery owner. I did enjoy the crooked moral compass Marlene used

I also enjoyed the sprinkling of Spanish throughout the book, as well as the general plot.

Lost stars: The story is very basic with basic characters. The names were a little dated and silly. It took me a while to get used to reading about Carloalberto, Helen and Marlene.

[Jerry Summers · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun cruise read. North Star 5000 passengers, 1000ft long doing 7-day Western Caribbean from Miami (Belize, Costa Maya and Cozumel). Just did a similar cruise. Could be Norwegian Epic (Blue Man Group) or MSC (Cirque du Soleil), thoughts?

[Sharon · Rating 3 out of 5]

Short, light crime to be solved story that works well as a travel companion. 3 stars


My thanks to goodreads and the book’s giveaway sponsors/author for the bonus read when winning a goodreads giveaway.

[Pip · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun, quick little read! The setting and details really brought the characters to life, though the ending left me unsatisfied. Excited to read more by Ms. Dovalpage!

[Carly Bohach · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a fun quick little Novella. Kind of predictable but still enjoyable.

[Beth · Rating 4 out of 5]

light hearted cuban/american family. cruise. dead star

[Katie Liming · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a quick easy little read, a fun little novella.

[Richard Burr · Rating 3 out of 5]

A very short and easy book to read. The author obviously knows a lot about cruises. She kept up the suspense and surprised me with the ending.

[Ashley (gotbookcitement) · Rating 4 out of 5]

BOOKCITEMENT LEVEL 3.5/5

[Anna Ruth FL · Rating 2 out of 5]

I have enjoyed this series, but this one felt a bit rushed at the end.

[Saima]

4/5 stars.

Soooo fun.

[geneva ☆ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quick, interesting read!

[Bill Pye · Rating 4 out of 5]

Short and sweet from police man to baker. Quick interesting transition. The adaptability of Cubans is fascinating. The sense of right and wrong inspiring. Want to read more.

[Lynnie Richards · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’m not reading the Havana series in order so I’m not quite sure how this fits in. I’ll keep going with the series and hopefully I’ll figure it out.

[tyerd · Rating 3 out of 5]

a fun read but a very lackluster ending tbh.