#BlogTour: Queen Of Bones by Teresa Dovalpage @Dovalpage @rararesources #QueenOfDovalpage #TeresaDovalpage

Book Synopsis:

Set between Cubas twenty years apart, Havana native Teresa Dovalpage’s new murder mystery explores lingering grudges between old friends and lovers separated by Castro’s final sanctioned raft exodus.
 
Juan, a Cuban construction worker who has settled in Albuquerque, returns to Havana for the first time since fleeing Cuba by raft twenty years ago. He is traveling with his American wife, Sharon, and hopes to reconnect with Victor, his best friend from college—and, unbeknownst to Sharon, he also hopes to discover what has become of two ex-girlfriends, Elsa and Rosita.
 
Juan is surprised to learn that Victor has become Victoria and runs a popular drag show at the local hot spot Café Arabia. Elsa has married a wealthy foreigner, and Rosita, still single, works at the Havana cemetery. When one of these women turns up dead, it will cost Padrino, a Santería priest and former detective on the Havana police force, more than he expects to untangle the group’s lies and hunt down the killer.

Queen Of Bones is available in ebook and hardback now. You can purchase your copy using the link below.

My Review:

I thought this was a very enjoyable murder mystery set in Cuba which is a country that’s always held some intrigue for me.

Firstly I found it interesting to learn about the modern day Cuba compared to how it was in the past. The reader gets to experience the differences through Juan’s eyes as someone who hasn’t been in the country for years. I didn’t know much about its history so it was fascinating to find out more about it.

The cultural changes are further emphasised by the contrast between transgender Victoria and the descriptions of the Santeria religion which is quite conservative. I’d never heard of this religion before which is a mix of African deities and Catholic saints so I enjoyed finding out more about it, especially as it helped me to realise why some of the characters acted the way they did.

The murder mystery was fun to follow and to try to work out everything alongside the characters. I did guess who it was fairly early on but did want to keep reading so I could find out why they did it. There are a few stories happening alongside each other, with some false leads along the way which did have me second guessing myself but it was satisfying to see it all come together at the end.

Huge thanks to Rachel from Rachel’s Random Resources for inviting me onto the blog tour and for my copy of this book.

About The Author:

Teresa Dovalpage was born in Havana, Cuba. She earned her BA in English literature and an MA in Spanish literature at the University of Havana, and her PhD in Latin American literature at the University of New Mexico. She is the author of twelve other works of fiction and three plays, and is the winner of the Rincón de la Victoria Award and a finalist for the Herralde Award. She lives in New Mexico.