Hola. I’m Miriam Quiñones, Ph.D. And sometimes I’m Miriam Quiñones-Smith (more on that later.) Another name I go by is Mami. That’s what my four-year-old son calls me. And that’s the reason I’m speaking to you in my quiet voice. He and my husband, Robert, are still asleep. I’m making a café con leche to take to my study so I can research and read in peace before the men get moving. I have a cooking show to film today, and I need to check the dates and facts I’ll be giving out about how the French influences in fricasé de pollo came to the dish from Haiti to Cuba with plantation owners. My doctorate is in food anthropology. I study how culture, history, and food intersect.

You might ask yourself how an academic ended up on Cocina Caribeña, and the answer is Alma Diaz, my BFF. She has been my guide since moving back the Miami. BEEP. Microwaves need a silent mode. Let me pour my espresso into the warm milk—mmm–hot, sweet, and highly caffeinated. This kitchen is almost as big as the apartment we had in NYC. See, we moved back to Miami recently but not the Miami you see in shows and movies. We moved to a village within Miami called Coral Shores. It’s a pretty place even though, at times, it feels like I’ve been time-warped to the 1950s. It’s my husband’s hometown. His parents gave us the down payment. They wanted their son and grandson to be close by, and the job opportunities were better for Robert. He comes from a founding family. Something I knew but didn’t really understand until we settled in. If I’d known what that meant, I might not have agreed to the bribe—I mean generous gift that Marjory Smith, my mother-in-law, reminds me about often. The Smith name means something in Coral Shores, and I admit to using it when it’s advantageous. Like to get a library card for my son and to ask questions about the untimely deaths of two young women (more on that later.) Robert’s family is nothing like mine. I grew up in working-class Hialeah, about ten miles away. To be honest, I don’t know that I’ll ever get used to country club luncheons and quartz countertops.

Follow me to my study. It’s not complete yet. I need a little desk chair, but at least all my books are unpacked and shelved. Thankfully there is a comfortable reading chair and a place to set my coffee. I love the royal poinciana tree in our front yard that fills the picture window. I prefer the Caribbean name for it, flamboyan—flame tree. The last of its summer flowers are falling and making an orange-red carpet in the driveway. Let me move this stack of herb encyclopedias and cookbooks for you. Today is a busy day. After a family breakfast and another cafecito, I’ll drop my son at his pre-school, a little Montessori at the Unitarian Universalist church. Then it’s off to the studio for make-up and wardrobe before filming in the kitchen set of UnMundo’s La Tacita. Afterward, I usually stop by my cousin’s Cuban restaurant for lunch and a chat. And then I might go around the corner to Dr. Mario Fuentes’s herbal apothecary.

I’m sure that he had something to do with the deaths I mentioned earlier. How, why, and when, I don’t yet know. But I’ll figure it out. I have to for my BFF’s sake. Pobrecita, Alma. She’s under house arrest because of an anonymous and FALSE tip. I don’t know who set her up, but the allegations are ruining her. I’ve never seen her so depressed. Yesterday, when I dropped some food off for her, I was shocked to see her in stained sweatpants. I didn’t even know she owned a pair. And her hair hadn’t seen a comb in days.

I think I hear Robert. No, that’s our son. My husband doesn’t sing the Spanish version of the Mira, Royal Detective intro at the top of his lungs upon waking. Actually, Robert doesn’t speak more than a few words of Spanish. But to ensure our son is bilingual, I speak to him exclusively in Spanish. My mother-in-law hates it. I’ve made a lot of concessions for her benefit, but I will not budget on that.

Ok, family life and career are calling. It was nice chatting with you. Tune in to the show. I think you’ll love the chicken fricassee I’m demonstrating today. And if you don’t understand Spanish don’t worry. We record an English version for the on-demand video channel. It’s become an instant hit with Latinx millennials and gen-Zs. Can you believe it? I got recognized by a fan at the grocery store! Ok. Ok. I really have to go now. Mami. ¿Donde estas, Mami? Adios.

Mango, Mambo, and Murder, A Caribbean Kitchen Mystery #1
Genre: Cozy
Release: October 2021
Purchase Link

Cuban-American cooking show star Miriam Quiñones-Smith becomes a seasoned sleuth in Raquel V. Reyes’s Caribbean Kitchen Mystery debut, a savory treat for fans of Joanne Fluke and Jenn McKinlay.

Food anthropologist Miriam Quiñones-Smith’s move from New York to Coral Shores, Miami, puts her academic career on hold to stay at home with her young son. Adding to her funk is an opinionated mother-in-law and a husband rekindling a friendship with his ex. Gracias to her best friend, Alma, she gets a short-term job as a Caribbean cooking expert on a Spanish-language morning TV show. But when the newly minted star attends a Women’s Club luncheon, a socialite sitting at her table suddenly falls face-first into the chicken salad, never to nibble again.

When a second woman dies soon after, suspicions coalesce around a controversial Cuban herbalist, Dr. Fuentes–especially after the morning show’s host collapses while interviewing him. Detective Pullman is not happy to find Miriam at every turn. After he catches her breaking into the doctor’s apothecary, he enlists her help as eyes and ears to the places he can’t access, namely the Spanish-speaking community and the tawny Coral Shores social scene.

As the ingredients to the deadly scheme begin blending together, Miriam is on the verge of learning how and why the women died. But her snooping may turn out to be a recipe for her own murder.

Meet the author
Raquel V. Reyes writes stories with Latina characters. Her Cuban-American heritage, Miami, and the Caribbean feature prominently in her work. Raquel is a co-chair for SleuthFest. Her short stories appear in various anthologies, including Mystery Most Theatrical and Midnight Hour. You can find her across social media platforms as @LatinaSleuths or click here for Raquel’s links. Use this direct link to join her newsletter.

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