Calypso, Corpses, and Cooking

by Raquel V. Reyes Narrated by Frankie Corzo

Overview

Fall festivities are underway in Coral Shores, Miami. Cuban-American cooking-show star Miriam Quiñones-Smith wakes up to find a corpse in her front yard. The body by the fake tombstone is the woman that was kicked out of the school's Fall Festival the day before. Miriam's luck does not improve. Her passive-aggressive mother-in-law puts her in charge of the Women's Club annual gala. But this year, it's not canapes and waltzes. Miriam and her girlfriends-squad opt for fun and flavor. They want to spice it up with Caribbean food trucks and a calypso band. While making plans at the country club, they hear a volatile argument between the new head chef and the club's manager. Not long after, the chef swan dives to his death at the bottom of the grand staircase. Was it an accident? Or was it Beverly, the sous chef, who is furious after being passed over for the job? Or maybe it was his ex-girlfriend, Anastasia? Add two possible poisonings to the mix, and Miriam is worried the food truck fun is going to be a major crash. As the clock ticks down and the body count goes up, her life is put in jeopardy. Will she connect the dots, or die in the deep freeze? Foodies and mystery lovers alike will savor the denouement as the truth is laid bare in this simmering stew of rage, retribution, and murder.

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

Praise for Calypso, Corpses, and Cooking:
“Enjoyable . . . Fans of Mia P. Manansala’s Arsenic and Adobo will want to check this out.”
—Publishers Weekly

“Raquel V. Reyes has found the right recipe for an engrossing, light mystery that blends Cuban-American culture, a love of food and appealing characters.”
—South Florida Sun Sentinel

“Calypso, Corpses, and Cooking holds community, family, and the joy of food at the heart of it; keeping it immensely joyful, while being an incredibly fun read.”
—Latinx in Publishing

“A 'must read' for mystery buffs with an affinity for cozy mysteries and amateur women sleuths . . . Original and fun.”
—Midwest Book Review

“Calypso, Corpses, and Cooking will have readers turning the pages as quickly as possible.”
—Cozy Mystery Reviews

“Raquel V. Reyes successfully keeps the light-hearted tone and delightful fun on full display throughout.”
—Deadly Pleasures

Praise for Mango, Mambo, and Murder:
2022 LEFTY AWARD FOR BEST HUMOROUS MYSTERY NOVEL

“Raquel V. Reyes’s series debut, Mango, Mambo, and Murder, furthers my belief that the cozy mystery has become one of the most diverse, and most vibrant, in contemporary crime fiction.”
—The New York Times

"Mango, Mambo, and Murder has everything you look for in a cozy mystery but also feels like a breath of fresh air."
—BookPage, starred review

"A vibrant, diverse, LGBTQ-inclusive cast and Raquel Reyes’s deft balance of sensitive topics and frothy intrigue make this a standout."
—BookRiot

"Mystery fans will instantly be pulled into this one."
—Reader's Digest

“[A] refreshing debut and series launch . . . [with] well-defined characters and [a] vibrant social scene. Mouthwatering recipes round out the volume.”
—Publishers Weekly

“It is refreshing to see the diversity of this story.”
—New York Journal of Books

“The character-driven debut introduces a fresh protagonist.”
—Library Journal, starred review

“This series is now on my insta-buy list."
—Mia P. Manansala, author of Arsenic and Adobo

“Raquel Reyes’ debut is as bright as the Miami sun and as satisfying as a big pot of sancocho, with a kick like a shot of Cuban coffee."
—Catriona McPherson,  multi-award-winning author of the Last Ditch Motel series 

“A delicious culinary cozy that serves up both mouthwatering Caribbean food and a fun, family-centered mystery."
—Gigi Pandian, award-winning author of the Accidental Alchemist Mysteries

Library Journal

10/01/2022

Trouble seems to follow Miriam Quinones-Smith, a Cuban American cooking show star, wherever she goes. The morning after her son's school fall festival, Miriam finds a woman passed out in her yard among Halloween tombstone decorations. Miriam's husband knows all the woman's family problems, but Miriam has her own. Her hateful mother-in-law volunteered her to head up the Women's Club gala and menu. It's usually a stodgy affair, but Miriam recruits friends so that this year's gala features Caribbean food trucks. When the committee meets at the country club, they overhear an argument, and the new chef takes a header off the stairway. Because she fears her best friend's assistant might be a suspect, Miriam starts poking around, but she has other things on her mind: she's three months pregnant, and she's a little slow to realize she's a threat to a killer. VERDICT The first "Caribbean Kitchen Mystery," Calypso, Corpses, and Cooking, won the 2022 Lefty Award for Best Humorous Mystery, but Reyes's sequel is somewhat convoluted and ends abruptly. Add this title, with its varied cast and a great deal of Spanish dialogue, where the first was popular.—Lesa Holstine

Kirkus Reviews

2022-10-12
A food anthropologist stirs a messy pot of murder.

After earning her doctorate in New York studying the foodways of the Caribbean, Miriam Quiñones is happy to be back in her hometown of Miami, though the gated enclave of Coral Shores has little in common with the Cuban community where she grew up. But much as she misses the sights, sounds, and colors of Hialeah, she enjoys the sense of security Coral Shores affords her husband, Robert, her preschooler, Manny, and the new little arrival she expects in May. So she’s more than a little disconcerted to find the words HELP MURDER scrawled on the side of her house. More disconcerting yet is finding socialite Lois Pimpkin the next day lying in Miriam’s front yard with a severe wound to the head. A few days later, Miriam has a front-row seat when Sebi Malkov, chef at the Coral Shores Country Club, takes a header off the second-floor balcony and dies. By now, Hialeah is looking pretty tame. Between prepping for her two cooking shows—Cocina Caribeña on UnMundo and Abuela Approved on YouTube—and doing advance work for the charity gala her snooty mother-in-law roped her into, Miriam has no time to investigate. But as the corpses pile up, she feels she must, if only to restore the sense of peace and security her growing family deserves. A mind-boggling combination of Byzantine motives and oddball coincidences is required to solve this one.

Reyes serves up a variety of Caribbean treats that maybe should not all be on the same plate.

Product Details

BN ID:	2940174826564
Publisher:	Dreamscape Media
Publication date:	10/27/2022
Series:	Caribbean Kitchen Mystery Series , #2
Edition description:	Unabridged

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