Murder in Havana (A Capital Crimes Novel, Large Print) [Hardcover]

Margaret Truman (Author)

Product Details

• Hardcover: 574 pages
• Publisher: Bookspan Large Print Edition; First Edition Thus edition (January 1, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0739420046
• ISBN-13: 978-0739420041
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.8 x 1.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,907,917 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Margaret Truman's Latest Connects Havana to the Beltway, October 3, 2001

By 

James E. Carroll (Cape Cod, Massachusetts, United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Murder in Havana (Capital Crimes) (Hardcover)

Having read every one of Margaret Truman's Capital Crimes Series, I was surprised with the title of her latest novel. But while the story focuses mostly on Castro's Cuba, there is plenty of inside the Beltway intrigue to satisfy her loyal readers. In typical Truman fashion, she weaves a tale of murder, espionage, diplomacy, politics and suspense that forces the reader to turn the pages in rapid succession. Ex-CIA agent Max Pauling finds himself embroiled in a plot in today's Cuba involving anticancer research, pharmaceutical giants, the USA embargo, the White House and anti-Castro supporters. Truman manages to introduce once more her favorite husband and wife team, Georgetown art gallery owner Annabelle Smith and George Washington University law professor MacKensie Smith, to move the story along. This latest Truman novel has plenty of action and suspense. It features locations in Cuba, DC, London and Germany. It does not disappoint. You won't put it down until you're finished.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Loyalty, March 10, 2007

By 

Mary E. Sibley (Carneys Point, NJ USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Murder in Havana (A Capital Crimes Novel, Large Print) (Hardcover)

Max Pauling, formerly of the CIA, has moved from Washington to New Mexico, but he is still a pilot of small planes. It seems that Cuba has first-rate medical research facilities. Max is hired to investigate, on behalf of Signal Labs, a probable situation of a German and American company combining to buy out the Cuban research on cancer drugs. The name of the other company is BTK Industries.

In Cuba Max has the realization he is being followed. The operative he contacts in Cuba may have her own agenda, or may be in the pay of someone else. It is 1995 and life in Cuba is difficult for reason of the imposition of trade sanctions by the United States.

Max Pauling is loyal to fault. In the past he was cited by the agency for remaining too long at a scene and perhaps jeopardizing the mission. In this instance he feels that the death of a German working for the other pharmaceutical company should be examined. Through a translation of a memo Pauling learns that the dead German suffered from the same vice of loyalty, really a sort of idealism.

Cuban doctors, loyal to Cuba and their research projects, do not want their research to be sold to the American company BFK and the German middlemen. More death and scapegoating of Max Pauling are part of the intricate plot. The return to New Mexico of the hero raises the point that he may be ready to leave the insanity of secrecy behind him to achieve a more orderly existence.

The theme of loyalty, misplaced and otherwise, sounds strongly throughout this book. Margaret Truman's rendering of the Washington scene makes everything seem believable.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Intrigue in Havana, April 5, 2002

By 

George Webster, Ph.D., (Orlando, FL USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Murder in Havana (Capital Crimes) (Hardcover)

I like Margaret Truman's mysteries. They're a relief from serial killers, blood and gore, and spooky things. In Murder in Havana, we are quite a distance into the story before we have a murder, and you will quickly put your finger on the likely murderer, but that's fine. The fun of this book is in the hazardous trip that ex-CIA agent Max Pauling takes to Havana. His assignment is to find whether an American pharmaceutical company is secretly trying to circumvent American law to make a deal with Fidel Castro for a cancer treatment. Max knows that you can't trust anyone, and he certainly can't in this story. He is soon in great peril and has to run for his life. The tale is more of an adventure than a mystery, but it has a nice feel of life in Castro's Cuba, and it will keep you turning the pages.