Jimmy Vega first appeared in Land of Careful Shadows and one of the best ways to learn about a person is by asking questions, so let’s get to know Jimmy.

What is your name?
James Orlando Vega, but you can call me “Jimmy.” Not “Jim.” Never “Jim.”

How old are you?
43.

What is your profession?
I’m a police detective for a county about fifty miles north of New York City. I was a patrol officer for 11 years, then worked undercover in narcotics and now I’m assigned to the county police’s homicide task force.

Do you have a significant other?
Yes. Very significant. She’s in every one of my stories and she’s the “yin” to my “yang.”

What is her name and profession?
Adele Figueroa. She’s the founder and executive director of La Casa, the largest immigrant services organization in the county. She’s also a former criminal defense attorney with a Harvard Law School degree (which beats my commuter college bachelor’s in accounting any day). Given that I’m a cop sworn to uphold the law and she works with a lot of immigrants who came to the United States illegally, we have pretty different points of view about things. But in the end, we always try to work together to solve problems on a human scale.

Any children?
One daughter, Joy, age 19, from my former marriage to a psychologist. Joy is a student at the local community college. She was supposed to go to Amherst as a pre-med but, well, things happened along the way. I guess you’ll have to read the series to find out what.

Do you have any siblings?
That’s a complicated question, courtesy of my father, Orlando Vega, who gave his DNA far more freely than his presence or support. He left my mother when I was two because he got a neighbor pregnant (my half-sister, Michelle was the resulting offspring). He had a second daughter with the neighbor (my half-sister, Denise) and a third daughter with another woman (my half-sister, Natasha). It’s a thorny family tree. Sometimes it feels more like a cactus.

Do your parents live near you?
I was born in the Bronx and lived there as a young child. My mom moved back when I was grown. She died in what I thought was a botched robbery (it ended up being so much more). My dad is still alive, though I don’t see him. I’m in touch with Michelle these days. That’s all the family I can handle.

Who is your best friend?
Aside from Adele? The keyboardist in my band, Danny Molina. He’s a local cop. Also, I’m good friends with this old curmudgeon of a detective, Louis Greco. We started out not liking each other very much but beneath his gruff exterior and jaded world view, he’s a good guy. Except for his addiction to Twizzlers, that is. I don’t see the attraction. They taste like wire insulation to me.

Cats, dogs or other pets?
I have a dog, Diablo. Part German Shepherd, part retriever and all chewing machine. Adele gave him to me during one of the darkest moments of my life. It’s still hard for me to talk about the experience. Suffice it to say, there was a time when the only creature in the world who seemed to like me was Diablo. I owe him everything.

What town do you live in?
I live on a lake in a community that is mostly composed of summer cabins. I’m one of the few year-round residents. It’s near a tiny town called Sullivan Falls in upstate New York. Sneeze, and you miss it. It takes me almost an hour to commute south to work but I love the peace and quiet of living on a lake.

Type of dwelling and do you own or rent?
I bought my summer cabin after my divorce six years ago. It’s 900 square feet with a massive fieldstone fireplace. The whole downstairs is one large room. The upstairs has two small bedrooms under the eaves.

What is your favorite spot in your home?
On my deck, overlooking the lake, which magnifies the seasons. Long, lingering sunsets in summer, a dusting of frost on the pines in winter, blood-red reflections of maples in the fall. There are bears and deer, and loons that flit across the lake. I wouldn’t live anywhere else.

Favorite meal and dessert?
I’m a simple guy with simple tastes. Burgers and omelets that I like to drown in hot sauce. I miss my mom’s alcapurrias—Puerto Rican meat fritters. My mom could make anything—so long as it was fried.

Favorite hobby?
I play guitar and sing lead vocals in a Latin pop band. We call ourselves, Armado, which means “armed” in Spanish. On account of the fact that we’re all cops. It’s tough being in a cop band. Half our gigs think we’re going to narc them out. The other half want us to double as unpaid security.

Favorite color?
I don’t really have one. Blue? I like bright, happy colors, but beyond that, I can’t tell jade from chartreuse.

Favorite author?
I don’t read as much as I should. I like mysteries but mostly, I get tired when I get home from work. I’d rather watch a ball game.

Favorite vacation spot?
I work so much, I don’t take a lot of vacations. As a kid, I used to go to Puerto Rico with my mom and grandmother to visit relatives. My mother was from a tiny mountain town called Barranquitas. My dad was from the port city of Mayagüez. I like anyplace warm and sunny. I don’t get enough of either in upstate New York.

Favorite sports team?
The Bronx Bombers—who else? I’m a die-hard Yankees fan. You can’t be from the Bronx and be anything else. I played baseball in high school—short-stop. I still love the sport.

Movies or live theater?
Movies, definitely. I like the action.

Are you a morning or a night person?
A night person. That’s why playing gigs is easy for me. It’s getting up for work the next morning that’s difficult.

Amateur or professional sleuth and whom do you work with?
I’m a 19-year veteran of the county police. I would definitely not choose to get shot at for fun! What I really wanted to do was become a professional musician in a rock-and-roll band. But my girlfriend—later wife, later ex-wife—got pregnant with Joy. So I became a cop. I love it now, but I’d be lying if I said it was always a passion of mine. I’m not naturally the sort who wants to wield my authority. I prefer to move people with rhythm, not muscle. I’m also not a by-the-book guy, which gets me in trouble a lot of the time. I love helping people and keeping them safe, but that doesn’t always gel with department politics. My buddy at work, Teddy Dolan, is an ex-Marine and much better at following orders than I am.

In a few sentences, what is a typical day in your life like?
I work more than one case at a time. But often, when I catch a case that’s really important to me, I work it around-the-clock. My office is a cubicle in the county police headquarters, which is a pretty unexciting building. Think post office with guns. I try to spend as little time as possible in the “bullpen”—the detective area. I’m a street guy. I like to talk to people and track down leads, not phone them in behind a desk. I don’t get in before 9:30 if I can help it, but I’ll work nights and weekends to solve a case. My bosses say I get too personally involved in my investigations. But when I’ve got a victim and they need my help, how can I not get caught up?

Voice with No Echo is the fifth book in the “Jimmy Vega” police procedural mystery series, coming March 31, 2020.

A long-buried family secret and a chance encounter with an estranged sibling force police detective Jimmy Vega to confront his deepest fears in this gripping new mystery by award-winning author Suzanne Chazin . . .

It’s spring in Lake Holly, New York, a time of hope and renewal. But not for immigrants in this picturesque upstate town. Raids and deportations are on the rise, spurring fear throughout the community.

Tensions reach the boiling point when the district attorney’s beautiful young bride is found hanging in her flooded basement, an apparent victim of suicide. But is she, wonders Vega? If so, where is her undocumented immigrant maid? Is she a missing witness, afraid to come forward? Or an accessory to murder?

Vega gets more help than he bargained for when Immigration and Customs Enforcement sends an investigator to help find—and likely deport—the maid. It’s Vega’s half-sister Michelle, the child who caused his father to leave his mother. Now an ICE agent, Michelle tangles with Vega and his girlfriend, immigrant activist Adele Figueroa. The law is the law, Michelle reminds Vega. And yet, his heart tells him he needs to dig deeper, not just into the case but into his past, to a childhood terror only Michelle can unlock.

While Vega searches for the demon from his youth, he discovers one uncomfortably close by, erecting a scheme of monstrous proportions. It’s a race against the clock with lives on the line. And a choice Vega never thought he’d have to make: Obey the law. Or obey his conscience. There’s no margin for error . . .

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About the author
Suzanne Chazin is a former journalist and the award-winning author of two suspense series. Her latest stars Hispanic homicide detective Jimmy Vega, an upstate New York cop wrestling with the new suburban melting pot and his own complicated place in it.

The series has received glowing reviews for its authentic portrayal of immigrants and its timely and realistic storylines. Suzanne drew inspiration for the books from her volunteer work with immigrants and her own childhood as a first-generation American. Voice with No Echo, the fifth and latest installment, is due out March 31st.

Suzanne’s prior mystery series stars Georgia Skeehan, a New York City firefighter-turned-fire-investigator solving arsons in the macho world of the FDNY. USA Today called the series, inspired by her husband, an FDNY veteran, “searing and emotionally explosive.”

When she’s not writing, Suzanne can be found burning dinner, helping with homework and trying to find her muse beneath two feet of laundry. Find her at suzannechazin.com.

All comments are welcomed.