Mango, Mambo, and Murder by Raquel V Reyes *****

Mango, Mambo, and Murder by RaquelV Reyes

Miriam Quiñones, PhD food anthropologist, married to Robert Smith, with a four-year-old son, lives in NYC. When they move to Florida, his mother’s money settles them in the exclusive Coral Shores, where Miriam confronts snobbery, adultery & murder.

Miriam does not fit into Coral Shores, with its fancy women’s club and fitness center. Regardless, her mother-in-law and husband pressure her into attending a luncheon where she is seated next to Sunny Weatherman, who drops dead, face first, into her chicken salad. Soon, her only ally and high school bestie, Alma, is accused of the murder and of dealing drugs. This puts amateur sleuth Miriam on the case.

One subplot is about her suspicions that her husband is having an affair. Back in NYC, Miriam and Robert lived in a small apartment, and he was dedicated to helping the environment. Now they live in a big house. He is working for a developer and buying furniture and cars. She is unhappy with this new life where they have lots of money, but Robert is never home.A second subplot is about her opportunity to have a cooking show on the local Spanish-language station. This is possible because the station has a childcare center. In this book, wherever Miriam goes, there is childcare available. When she takes a class at the fitness center, they have childcare. If organized childcare is unavailable, the staff at the diner or the local police are happy to entertain Manny, and Manny is always happy to meet new people. Manny is left with a large assortment of people and never experiences separation anxiety.

While this book deals with drugs (cocaine), murder, and anorexia, it is a cozy mystery where Miriam, her family, and friends are never in jeopardy. The book also includes recipes and a cute calico cat named Flossie who has kittens. One is gifted to Manny, who names his calico kitten Camo, as in camouflage.

Miriam is raising Manny to be bilingual. She is the Spanish-language parent, and Robert is the English-language parent. The book includes plenty of untranslated Spanish dialogue. I don’t read or speak Spanish, but I did not find this to be a problem.

A fun cozy mystery.

Author bio: Raquel V. Reyes was raised in oppositional cultures. Her early childhood was not unlike an I Love Lucy rerun with a heavy-accented, handsome Cuban father and a red-headed Southern mother whose smile brightened the room. Raquel’s soul food is croquetas with a Jupiña chaser. She lives in Miami.

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To the Moon and Back by Eliana Ramage *****

 To the Moon and Back by Eliana Ramage

Born in 1982, Steph Harper is a gay Cherokee Nation citizen. Since childhood, her life goal was to be an astronaut. Steph’s story began at five with the car accident in which her mother took her and her younger sister away from their abusive father.

The book begins when Steph is five years old. Following a car accident, her mother took Steph and her younger sister Kayla from Texas to settle with other Cherokee families in Oklahoma. The two truths in Steph’s life are that she is a lesbian, and she wants to be a NASA astronaut. Often, these are in opposition. It is difficult to have a social life when she is constantly working to have a resume attractive to NASA and to maintain her fitness. Also, NASA regulations conflict with her desire for a lesbian relationship.

Highlights:

Steph's earliest memories were of the car accident that killed her abusive father. Her sister Kayla had no memories of the father or the accident. Steph blamed this experience for her seriousness and Kayla’s carefree attitude. Steph took everything hard, while Kayla just went with the flow.

Steph’s first step to becoming an astronaut was a good education, starting with the exclusive boarding school, Phillips Exeter. She didn’t go there, but she attended Hollis in Connecticut. (I suspect this is a disguised Wesleyan.)

In high school, she played a male in the school play. When she kissed Meredith, the girl playing opposite her, she discovered that she was gay. Meredith was not.

At college, she met Della Owens, her first love. Della was the subject of a Supreme Court case about the Indian Child Welfare Act. Her Cherokee father wanted custody, but the court sided with the adoptive parents. (See Adoptive Couple v. Baby Girl). Kayla visited Steph at school and became pregnant at a college party.

When Steph was selected as an astronaut candidate, she was on a NASA exercise in Hawaii, and sister Kayla protested the activity. Meanwhile, during the exercise, Steph has a crush on another astronaut candidate, Nadia.

The book refers to many historical events: after the 2024 election, she protested a travel ban against people from seven Muslim-majority countries, the border wall, the deportation of immigrants, and pulling out of an agreement on climate change mitigation.

Some quotes/excerpts:

We took off our coats at the door of Alpha Omega and tied them together by the arms. When it was time to go it would be easier to find them in the dark, in the massive pile accumulated on a stranger’s bed. And it was safer, Sandra said, because the number one rule of going out together was going home together. In our first week of school, Sandra had stood in the kitchen and demonstrated the arm-tying trick with her coat and April’s coat, saying, “So now if I’m super drunk, like, black-out drunk, and some guy’s trying to take me back to his dorm, I can’t leave without going through the whole rope of coats. And while I’m standing there wrestling with the arm-knots, you people can save me.”

I was the kind of person who destroyed herself over missed data from an X-ray space telescope. Over a supernova, the death of a star.

The crops were planted by a person we enslaved. The treaty was signed for a profit. The seminary taught mostly what we’d need in the coming white world. My great-grandfather left his daughter in a barn, my grandfather locked his daughter out of the house, and my father drove from one life into another. And my great-grandmother stayed, and my grandmother stayed, and my mother stayed, until she didn’t.

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The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides *****

 The Silent Patient by AlexMichaelides

Alicia shot her husband five times and hasn’t spoken since. Her only communication is one last painting, The Alcestis, who sacrificed for her husband and didn’t speak again. Psychiatrist Theo takes an interest in Alicia. Nothing is as it seems.

Our narrator is Theo Faber, a psychiatrist who transfers from Broadmoor (prison) to The Grove (mental hospital) to work with Alicia Berenson. Since Alicia won’t speak, he investigates through witnesses. Christian West is another psychiatrist whom Theo discovers has a long-hidden relationship with Alicia. Jean-Felix Martin owns the gallery that shows Alicia’s work. Max Berenson is Alicia’s brother-in-law, who has a problematic relationship with her. Theo is interested in Alicia because they share childhoods in dysfunctional families. They also share difficult marriages. Theo’s wife, Kathy, is having a passionate affair. Theo uses his experience and empathy, together with his research, to inform his therapeutic approach to Alicia.

The book is best read as a mystery. Alicia is the murderer, and Theo is the detective. As Theo interviews people in Alicia’s life, he uncovers clues and makes revelations about Alicia. Many people benefit from Alicia’s continued silence. Theo presses his investigation forward despite making these people uncomfortable and angry. Alicia’s stepmother, Lydia Rose, never liked Alicia. Gallery owner Jean-Felix benefits from her notoriety. Her brother-in-law and former therapist could be embarrassed if Alicia speaks. The book builds to a final surprise ending.

Check out https://amazon.com/shop/influencer-20171115075 for Omega Cat Press books and book recommendations.