The Novel Detective - by Teresa Dovalpage (Hardcover)

Book Synopsis

2020: Teresa, a Cuban-born mystery writer now living in America, gets an unexpected call from her childhood best friend, Estrella, inviting her to Havana. Estrella is determined to get answers about a case that has haunted them both for decades: the purported murder-suicide of a teacher and a student at their high school. Though Teresa doesn't quite understand why Estrella is taking the story so personally, she's along for the ride, as she always wanted to write a novel about this case, but never got to--because it lacked the proper ending.

1980: Fourteen-year-old Teresita, bespectacled, awkward and mystery novel-obsessed, is "nosy, but not a tattletale." She knows who's been skimming off the top of the amphetamine stash in her mother's pharmacy, which teacher keeps cyanide in his cabinet at school, and that their classmate Yoyi is sleeping with their English teacher. Over the course of one fateful day, Teresita gets closer than ever to learning the "Truth of Life"--her catchall term for the intricacies of adult existence--and Death.

Directly inspired by the author's own upbringing in Cuba and adult life in the United States, drawing upon the grand tradition of Latin American magical realism, this is a resonant tale at once personal and universal, full of nostalgia, candor and danger.

Review Quotes

"Sharply plotted, highly readable, evocative, and timely . . . An author at the top of her game, and a must-read for mystery fans who love great locations paired with even better characters. I couldn't put this book down."
--Alex Segura, acclaimed author of the Pete Fernandez Miami Mystery series

"Dovalpage wields her considerable authorial skill in this intricately plotted tale of jealousy, revenge, and the dark side of love."
--Isabella Maldonado, award-winning author of the Veranda Cruz mysteries

"[A] refreshing and elusive Cuban crime novel."
--Toronto Star

"A highly entertaining mystery set in Havana, there's an ominous tone, a hint of something repressed beneath the main character's narration."
--Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

"A lesser-known Cuba, with the kind of details that make it a home rather than a holiday."
--Chicago Review of Books

"Amusing, observant . . . [A] devastating depiction of prejudice in 1980s Cuba."
--Miami Herald

About the Author