Helpful Score: 1
From Publishers Weekly: "Willa Jansson, Matera's plucky sleuthing lawyer (Star Witness, 1997), deserves a Daughter of the Year award for the latest adventure. This time, her mother, an unrepentant social activist, goes international, failing to return with her gray-haired group of brigadistas after their goodwill tour of Havana. Doubting that her mom, even with her "dances with revolutionaries" fervor, would abandon her family without a word, Willa goes to Havana, where she falls in with two suspiciously helpful journalists who offer to help but lead Willa to some unexpected stops along the way. These include visits to Lidia Gomez, an internationally acclaimed poet placed under house arrest for "leafletting," and an American woman, Myra Wilson, being held in prison for drug smuggling. With Havana's bubbling mix of journalists, possible CIA agents and heroes of the revolution, it's no wonder Willa comes to feel that nothing is as it seems in the nightmarishly deteriorating place. Matera uses the complexities of the Cuban revolution and modern skullduggery to build her tale, which is slightly hobbled by a few contrived plot turns and staple characters. But the appealing Willa is fun to watch as she reacts with healthy doses of common sense, fear, humble confusion and wit to her various troubles. Her mother did a good job of raising her?but readers may be less willing than the well-grounded Willa to forgive her mother this madcap escapade." Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Havan Twist
Attorney Willa Jansson has finally managed to unload some her sixties baggage, but her rebellious mother can't seem to mellow out. When mom head to Cuba with a band of graying "brigadistas" Willa figures it's just a prilgrimage to lefty Graceland. But then the rest of the group returns without her mother, and Willa fears the worst. Risking disbarment for "trading with the enemy" she rushes to the rescue - and discovers that her mother may have finally gotten herself into more trouble than she can get herself out of.
In a deadly game of cat and mouse, Willa follows her mother's path from Havana to Mexico City, from California back to Havana, getting manipulated, misled, and nearly arrested along the way. Soon she finds two angry goverments, at least one ruthless killer, and her olf flame, homicide lieutenant Surgelato, are hot on her trail. Racing againt time, Willa realized that, much more than politics and police work, it is intuition that will help her find her mother - and those things that only a daughter knows.
In a deadly game of cat and mouse, Willa follows her mother's path from Havana to Mexico City, from California back to Havana, getting manipulated, misled, and nearly arrested along the way. Soon she finds two angry goverments, at least one ruthless killer, and her olf flame, homicide lieutenant Surgelato, are hot on her trail. Racing againt time, Willa realized that, much more than politics and police work, it is intuition that will help her find her mother - and those things that only a daughter knows.
Dominique Y. (NaughtyLittleMinx) reviewed Havana Twist (Willa Jansson, Bk 7) on + 103 more book reviews
Willa Jansson, a no-nonsense Santa Cruz lawyer whose good judgement is matched only by her wry sense of humor--though sometimes neither is enough to keep her out of trouble. And this time, it's her own mother who has put her there. This time, her mother, an unrepentant social activist, goes international, failing to return with her gray-haired group of brigadistas after their goodwill tour of Havana. Doubting that her mom, even with her "dances with revolutionaries" fervor, would abandon her family without a word, Willa goes to Havana, where she falls in with two suspiciously helpful journalists who offer to help but lead Willa to some unexpected stops along the way. While smartly pursuing her mother's whereabouts and trying to stay out of jail, Willa manages to find a little time for a romance of sorts, although she's not unaware of the irony in her attraction to the police detective who was once almost fired because of her mother's police protest.
The name of this book is "Havana Twist"
Havana Twist----a Willa Jansson mystery.
