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Product Description
From Publishers Weekly
At the start of the well-plotted second volume of Padura's seething, steamy Havana Quartet (after 2005's Havana Red), Cuban detective Mario Conde (aka "the Count") is approaching the end of his police career and his 36th birthday with drunken abandon while also anticipating, almost welcoming, the arrival of a devastating hurricane. Fed up with the latest departmental purges, which have claimed his boss and mentor, Major Rangel, Conde resigns from the department only to be offered a challenge and a bargain by Rangel's newly appointed replacement. If he can solve the brutal murder of a highly placed Cuban defector within three days, Conde's resignation will be accepted without prejudice. Padura grounds his tale against a backdrop of governmental corruption, the broken promises of the Cuban revolution and the difficult relations between those Cubans who fled the Castro regime and those who stayed. This densely packed mystery's unusual locale should attract readers outside the genre. (June)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
From Booklist
In the third Mario "the Count" Conde mystery to appear in English (after Adios, Hemingway and Havana Red, both 2005), Miguel Forcade is found washed ashore, having been dispatched with a baseball bat and emasculated with a dull kitchen knife. Coaxed from intended retirement to uncover what might have tempted the presumably corrupt diplomat and defector to return to his native Cuba, Inspector Conde finds no shortage of Maltese falcons hidden away amidst seedy squalor during the revolution. Padura's world is both as unknowable as lost love and as simple as a stray dog, and his prose is given to lush and loquacious ruminations rife with doom and duende somewhat reminiscent of Paco Ignacio Taibo's more contemplative side. While perhaps not as accessible as L. A. Garcia-Roza or Arnaldo Correa, this series is drenched with that beguiling otherness so appealing to the many fans of mysteries from other cultures, and may also please those who appreciate the sultry lyricism of James Lee Burke. For most libraries. David Wright
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
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Most helpful customer reviews
4.0 out of 5 stars
Havana Life,
By
This review is from: Havana Black: A Lieutenant Mario Conde Mystery (Paperback)
Natural Law, Science, and the Social Construction of Reality
After spending two holidays in Cuba it was great reading a novel set there. This is the last novel in what is known as the Havana Quartet; four novels, each set in a different season over the course of a year--1989-1990. The main character is a detective and we get to see Mario Conde, or the Count as he is known, go through police procedures to solve crimes. But while they are detective novels, they are really novels about Mario's day to day life. We learn about his school days, we meet his close friends, we see how he lives. We see how important rum is. Mario is divorced. We learn little about his marriage. But we do learn about other women in his life. But mostly we see the Count with his friends. There is Skinny, who used to be skinny but is now confined to a wheel chair due to a wound received when he was with Cuban troops in Angola. Skinny's mother always has lots of food and the implication is she gets it on the black market. Skinny's mother, Josephine, is like a mother to Conde. She is always feeding him. We see that the Havana of that period was not the greatest time. But we see the characters living full lives. Money may be in short supply, but friendship and camaraderie are plentiful. Friendships make the characters. And the crimes are crimes. There is murder, there is corruption, there is rivalry. But while a crime is a crime, the setting makes these books that much more interesting. It is always fun reading a book set somewhere you have been and you can picture yourself on the same streets being described in the book. You can say that you saw the crime scene. The Count is a complex character, always wondering why he joined the force. he really doesn't enjoy being a police officer, but he doesn't know what else he wants either. And he is a very good detective, using regular police procedures and his insight. A very enjoyable character driven series in a different locale.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta) Amazon.com:
4.1 out of 5 stars (7 customer reviews) 7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
excellent Cuban police procedural,
By Harriet Klausner - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Havana Black: A Lieutenant Mario Conde Mystery (Paperback)
Havana Police Lieutenant Mario Conde just wants to do the right thing on the job though the Party makes that difficult. However, he is irate and bitter over the forced replacement of his professional supervisor by a party hack; he deems the job is not worth the political correctness that previously was overwhelming, but now is impossible to navigate without connections. This Conde decides to join many other professionals by hiding behind rum and cigarettes, preferably imported from another Caribbean island or the States.
However, a fascinating case comes his way so he agrees to put aside the rum, but not the cigarettes to investigate the homicide of a former minister whose job was to seize pre-revolutionary art. The victim was castrated before he had his head smashed to smithereens. Besides the violence, Conde wonders why someone living safely in a relatively luxurious lifestyle in Florida would return to Cuba where he had many enemies. Conde assumes if he can learn that he can figure out the motivation and consequently identify the culprit though a Communist hack accompanies him to insure he investigates in accordance with State policy as the unwritten ones arehe most dangerous all before a hurricane hits. HAVANA BLACK, the sequel to the superb HAVANA RED, is an excellent Cuban police procedural that provides readers with a terrific investigation while guiding the audience around Havana three decades after the Communist revolution. The case is top rate as it provides insight into the Florida exile community, the impoverish masses left behind on the island, and the Party hacks. Few writers can paint a picture of optimism and pessimism with the same stroke as Leonard Padura does through his hero. The Two colorful Havana tales are winners worth reading unless you are an exile or a Fidel-phile. Harriet Klausner 3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Reviewed by Barb Radmore,
By Front Street Reviews www.frontstreetreviews.com - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Havana Black: A Lieutenant Mario Conde Mystery (Paperback)
After the dismissal of his boss from the police Mario Conde hands in his resignation also. He is frustrated by the wave of corruption uncovered within the force and the blame directed at this long time mentor. But his letter of resignation is not accepted by the new Police Chief. In order for Mario to earn it he must solve the murder of a recently discovered corpse. If he can find the murderer within three days he can retire from the job for which he has lost his taste. The corpse of Miguel Forcade was found on a Havana Beach, killed by a blow to the head but also with his genitals cut off. After defecting from Cuba this is the first time Forcade had returned to his parent's house. Mario must sort through the history of stolen and confiscated artwork and Forcade's reticent family members to discover the truth.
As Hurricane Felix approaches the island of Cuba, building in speed and strength so does the pace of the story build and expand. It is an impending storm that mimics the suspense of the story, from the case to the anticipated retirement of Mario from the police force to his up coming 36th birthday. The hurricane is not only Mario's fixation, it is the winds of time approaching the shores of modern Cuba. The hurricane becomes a main character of this mystery, waiting in the wings to make a sweeping entrance, perhaps wiping clean both the murder and the corruption of the times. This is a detective story for the senses, a tale that unfolds by sights, sounds and smell. The land of Cuba, its people and its history are seen and felt through the descriptive prose of Padura. With sentences that extend 18 lines or more, Peter Black has been able to translate the Spanish phrasing into masterful English. The prose is not for those looking for an easy to read, common crime noir but for those seeking a uncommon piece of literature. 2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Not detestable,
By D. Zipse "DETC" - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Havana Black: A Lieutenant Mario Conde Mystery (Paperback)
Leonardo Padura's "Havana Black" is set in post-revolution Cuba and follows a thirty-something police detective, Mario Conde, who has an affinity for cigarettes and rum. While awaiting the onslaught of hurricane Felix, Conde must solve a high-profile murder involving a returning revolutionary defect or he will not be granted permission to leave the force to pursue his true passion - writing. Lovers of formulaic detective stories may find this book disappointing. The plot places the emphasis on Conde's personal life, as well as the personal lives as his friends, rather than on the resolution of the crime committed. While this may be attractive to those who have read the entire series, I found this aspect perturbing for a stand-alone work. Luckily, the emphasis on characters' personal lives does redeem itself in that it allows for an interesting examination of Cuban society, and those cubanos who grew up after the revolution. However, the book may annoy those who enjoy attempting to solve the crime as the novel possesses, because Padura does not offer enough clues, and therefore cheats the reader out of this mental game. Overall, "Havana Black" is an easy and not completely un-enjoyable read, but disappoints if you are looking for a straight up and stand alone detective story. |
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