Mango, Mambo, and Murder is the debut of the Caribbean Kitchen Mystery series set in Coral Shores, Miami and featuring food anthropologist, Miriam Quinones-Smith. Miriam and husband Robert have just moved back to Robert's home town of Coral Shores from New York and Miriam is having a hard time adjusting. Robert's mother Marjory makes no bones about the fact that she doesn't like Miriam, she's not good enough for her favorite son, so the only two people that Miriam can rely on are her four year old toddler Manny and best friend from high school, Alma.

When two local ladies suddenly die, Detective Frank Pullman is quick to point the finger at Alma, claiming that she's a major cocaine dealer and has been selling a bad product. But, Miriam knows that her friend is not responsible so she sets out to find the real reason behind the women's deaths.

I enjoyed getting to know Miriam and watching her develop a backbone, it wasn't too hard to figure out whodunit, and some of the recipes that are mentioned sound delicious. Fair warning that the dialogue switches back and forth from Spanish to English quite frequently, and if you are like me with absolutely NO understanding of the Spanish language it can be a little frustrating at times. Overall, a good way to spend an afternoon.

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Dollycas's Thoughts

Miriam Quiñones-Smith was happy in New York. Then her mother-in-law bought her son and grandson a house in Coral Shores, Florida, 3 blocks away from her house. Miriam, a food anthropologist, had been in line for a professorship. Now her career is on hold and she is attending a Women's Club luncheon at the country club, and Alma, her best friend, is trying to get her to accept a job on a Spanish-language morning TV show as a Caribbean cooking expert.

Well, the luncheon takes a tragic turn when socialite Sunny Weatherman, sitting next to Miriam, passes out and plants her face into her plate of chicken salad. She dies later at the hospital. Then another woman dies and it is thought the herbal remedies Dr. Fuentes is peddling may be the cause. The theory gains traction when he appears on a morning talk show and the host interviewing him crumbles on the set. But Detective Pullman is focusing on Miriam's friend Alma. Miriam decides she needs to help her friend which makes the good detective a little crazy. Then he admits he could use her help. She has access to places he doesn't and she speaks Spanish fluently.

Miriam may take the detective's request too far even though knows she is getting close to the truth about the deaths. But due to her âinvestigation,â she may find herself in hot water with the killer ready to strike.

I liked Miriam, she is well-educated, a great mom to her son, Manny, and an excellent cook, but she allows her very pushy mother-in-law to walk all over her. Her husband really pushed my buttons as well with his secrets and not standing up to his mother for the way she was treating his wife. I felt sorry for the woman as she tried to deal with the abuse on her own. Alma is a good friend to her but she has a lot on her plate being a murder suspect. Miriam is a bit stronger at the end of the story which gives me hope for future installments.

The mystery was well-plotted with several suspects. Miriam is almost consumed with solving the murder mystery all while starting a new job, taking care of her child and home, and jumping every time her mother-in-law demands it. She asks good questions and ruminates on the answers and clues. She follows leads sometimes when she shouldn't but it does get Detective Pullman's attention. He quickly nicknames her Veronica Mars even though she has no idea who that is. All the clues came together for Miriam and she was delighted when the arrest was made. I solved the case before Miriam but the way everything played out was quite entertaining.

Miriam is a Cuban American and slips easily into Spanish. She speaks almost exclusively in Spanish to her son Manny while her husband speaks to him in English to raise him bilingual. This is great and I fully support how they live their lives but I am not fluent in Spanish. I do know some words but not enough to instantly translate. Fortunately, I was reading on my Kindle which allowed me to highlight and request the translation but that really messed with the flow of the story. I wish the translation had been right there in the text.

Mango, Mambo, and Murder has laid a great foundation for this series. I feel invested in Miriam and Manny and want to see how their lives in Coral Shores develop and grow. Calypso, Corpses, and Cooking is calling from my Kindle. I hope most of the translations are in the text or I may have to sign up for a Babbel course to learn more Spanish.

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