I love a cozy mystery debut that’s a little different with characters that are not the stereotypical white middle-class owners of a craft shop or bookstore. Raquel V. Reyes introduces Cuban-American Miriam Quinones-Smith, a food anthropologist, a wife and mother, in Mango, Mambo, and Murder.

Miriam feels totally out of her element when she and her husband move from New York City to Coral Shores, a 1950’s time-warped village within Miami, where the three founding families, including her husband’s, have an unbelievable amount of clout. Instead of the professorship she dreamt of, she’s staying at home until their son, Manuelito, is ready for school. Her mother-in-law looks down her nose at her, and her husband seems to have disappeared into work, golf, and maybe even a relationship with his high school girlfriend.

Thank heavens for Miriam’s best friend, Alma, the only one saving her from loneliness. Alma is a successful realtor who believes in the power of networking. She’s the one who drags Miriam to the Women’s Club Luncheon where they’re seated at the same table as Sunny Weatherman. It’s only when Sunny face plants into the chicken salad that Miriam learns of her reputation as addicted to diets and exercise fads. Miriam thinks it’s just an unfortunate accident when Sunny dies.

Alma not only introduces Miriam to people, she gets her a job at a Spanish-language TV station where Miriam has a short segment to introduce Caribbean food. She takes her to yoga class, and drags her to a lecture by a man who professes to combine Western medicine with ancient herbal practices. Then, the second person dies after Miriam sees them drink one of those herbal drinks. Why is Alma arrested instead of the man who supplied those drinks to both of the dead women?

Now, all of a sudden, Miriam doesn’t have time to be bored. Her TV segment turns into a YouTube video. She’s worried she’s going to be a single mom due to her husband’s absences. And, she’s certainly not going to let her best friend go to prison when she’s convinced Alma is innocent. She’s even willing to team up with Detective Frank Pullman who convinces her she can go places he can’t, into the heart of Coral Shores’ society.

I admire Miriam Quinones-Smith. It can’t be easy to be thrust into a sometimes stodgy upper class white community when she knows some people look down on her because she’s Cuban-American. Even so, she continues to cook her favorite foods, and teach her son Spanish so he’ll be bilingual. And, as she’s forced to investigate without Alma’s help, she builds a small network of friends of her own, from her sister-in-law to her husband’s cousin, a police officer. She puts together her own type of family, so important to her..

Mango, Mambo, and Murder has an excellent supporting cast, including Miriam’s enchanting young son. It doesn’t hurt to have a little Spanish as you read this debut. Reyes flavors the book with language, food from the Caribbean, and a dash of love and friendship in an enjoyable debut to savor.

Raquel V. Reyes’ website is http://rvreyes.com/

Mango, Mambo, and Murder by Raquel V. Reyes. Crooked Lane Books, 2021. ISBN 9781643857848 (hardcover), 336p.

FTC Full Disclosure – I received a .PDF to review for a journal.