The star of Bloody Waters, Cuban-American private eye Lupe Solano returns in her second case, in which she tries to plumb the connection between the death of her best friend and that of a Cuban rafter.
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Book Description
Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com Review
Simultaneous publication (what a coincidence!) of her first book, Bloody Waters, in paperback and her second in hardcover gives readers a double chance to discover the delights of this Cuban-American private detective, who comes from a wealthy family, drives a Mercedes, carries a Beretta, and spends a lot of her time trying to fix the bad things that happen to Cubans in Miami. Carolina Garcia-Aguilera, herself a Cuban-born private investigator and M. B. A., makes sure that both books contain just the right seasoning of local color and personal moments in their strongly plotted stories. This one finds Lupe trying to clear a local jeweler in the death of a would-be assailant. As in her first outing, things soon become personal.
From Publishers Weekly
"What a soap opera," says lawyer Tommy McDonald when, near the end of this story, he hears Miami PI Lupe Solano explain why the police should release jeweler Alonso Arango Sr., Tommy's client, who is being held for the shooting death of Gustavo Gaston. Tommy's assessment is generous-soap opera fans take more interest in characters and their doings than can be mustered for the folks here. Arango claims self-defense, saying Gaston attacked him with a knife which, oddly, vanished from the crime scene. Lupe cares about this only because her friend Margarita Vidal intimated that she had intriguing information on Arango-and died in a car accident before revealing it. Since Margarita was even dearer than a really good manicure (and that's dear indeed), Lupe, the quintessential Cuban-American princess, tries to sift the truth from the misinformation and outright lies supplied by Arango's obnoxious relatives and loyal employees. Lupe's concern escalates when she realizes that her Mercedes is being professionally tailed-and when the missing knife shows up embedded in another member of the Arango circle. Garcia-Aguilera creates momentum more from the quantity of suspects than from their quality. Worse, Lupe, who debuted encouragingly in Bloody Waters, rather than evolving into a complex character, is morphing into a banal admirer of luxury consumer goods. Mystery Guild alternate.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
The title says it all.,
By A Customer
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: Bloody Shame (Lupo Solano Mystery) (Paperback)
I thought the Lupe Solano series had promise. But after reading two of Aguilera-Garcia's books, I decided that Lupe is materialistic and shallow and tiresome. I started getting annoyed by the constant references to her great looks, body, car, office, home, etc. Or the great looks, body, car, office, home, etc. of her boyfriends. The mystery was twisted but dull. If I can't like the protagonist, I'd at least like to be intrigued by the plot.
6 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
The most authentic portrayal of daily Cuban-American life.,
By brito@brandeis.edu (Boston, Massachusetts) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Bloody Shame (Lupo Solano Mystery) (Paperback)
In "Bloody Shame", Carolina Garcia-Aguilera reveals the most accurate portrayal I've ever come across in fiction of the inner workings of the Cuban-American Miami psyche. Granted most Cuban-Americans in Miami are not P.I.s and are not as extravagantly wealthy as Lupe Solano. But when Lupe sits down and relishes her freshly made cafe con leche, or when she is harassed by her worried sisters for not having phoned home in the last 24 hours, the reader is introduced to the small things of daily life that make the Cuban-American culture unique.
6 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Good mystery/thriller starring intelligent female P.I.,
By A Customer
This review is from: Bloody Shame (Lupe Solano Mysteries) (Hardcover)
I picked up this book because my local bookstore featured it as a new mystery...and here I am at amazon.com to order another Lupe Solano book! Lupe joins Britt Montero, Kelsey Millhone, et al., as intelligent, tough and charming females featured in fascinating mysteries. It's a welcome trend. Garcia-Aguilera is an excellent writer and a welcome addition to the mystery genre, and especially to the South Florida sub-genre.
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