Raquel V. Reyes, author of the Caribbean Kitchen Mystery series, interviews Alma Diaz, Miriam Quiñones’ BFF

Raquel V. Reyes, author of the Caribbean Kitchen Mystery series, interviews Alma Diaz, Miriam Quiñones’ BFF.

About the book: CALYPSO, CORPSES, AND COOKING

It’s time for a savory soirée—but something sinister is stewing—in Raquel V. Reyes’s second delightful Caribbean Kitchen mystery, perfectly delicious for fans of Mia P. Manansala.

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, Miriam’s 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.

Raquel: Hola, Alma. It’s nice to meet you.

Alma:  Gracias. Please, come in. Siéntate. Would you like a coffee? Ana, please make the café.  

R: Thank you for inviting me to your Coral Shores Real Estate office today. It looks like you are in the middle of a craft project. (Waving my hand at the twenty-odd pumpkins on the large glass table.) 

A: (laughs) Yes. I’m presenting the costume contest prizes at the Fall Festival this weekend. Be careful. You don’t want to get gold paint on you. They aren’t completely dry yet. Ay, ay, ay. The things I’m having to do to repair my image. Damage control is expensive. This basket has a hundred Dunkin Donut gift cards for the parents. Pobrecita, Ana, she had to stuff them into the tiny envelopes and sticker them with our logo. And wait until you see my costume, head to toe to fingertips in ORANGE. Ay, mi madre, I mean, I’ve been sponsoring the Coral Shores Little Cleats team for years. And now all those parents that I’ve sold houses to or for are giving me ojo malo. It’s ridiculous. I even started wearing my azabache again. You know what that is, right? You’re Cuban, too. No.

R:  Claro. My abuela made sure I was protected from the evil eye. I had the black and coral beads pinned to my onesie the moment I left the hospital. Pero, rewind. Why do you have to do damage control?

A: That is a long story. (Read Mango, Mambo, and Murder for the full story.) But basically, I was accused of a crime, was put under house arrest, my business tanked, and people started whispering that I was a drug dealer. ME, a drug dealer! Por favor. As if. Can you believe it? Me. My brother died from that poison. No way would I touch that stuff. 

R: Wow, that sounds—

A: Oh, good, the coffee’s here. Let me introduce you to the best assistant in the world. Anastasia de Palma.  

(A tall blonde woman with two demitasse cups balanced on top of a blue tin of butter cookies has entered the room.)

Anastasia: Un placer.

A: Don’t look so surprised. Ana is Russian-Cuban. Her Spanish is impeccable, and she is such an asset to me with the Sunny Isles / Aventura crowd. We couldn’t have closed so many condo deals if it weren’t for her Russian connections. Did you know that part of Miami Beach is called Little Moscow? 

R: Thank you for the espresso, Ana. It’s delicious.

Anastasia: Como no. I’ll just grab a few cookies and leave you two to your conversation. I have work to finish. Bye. It was nice to meet you. 

R: She seems lovely.

A: She is the best. 

R: So, tell me about Miriam Quiñones. You’re the reason she got the cooking show gig at UnMundo, no.

A: I love that girl. We’ve been friends since kindergarten. Pero, let me tell you, sometimes she needs a little push. She doesn’t understand that when you live in a town like Coral Shores, it’s about who you know, your last name, and the size of your bank account. It was a lot of hard work for me to be accepted here. Mi’ja, it was sweat and tears, for real. So many people looked down their nose at me, a Latina with (taps the skin on her arm), but now, at least to my face, they smile and invite me to parties and call me first when they want to sell their house. I keep telling Miriam she needs to join the Women’s Club. She thinks it’s only for seventy-year-old white women. Pero, that’s not entirely true. I think she and I could make it better. We could bring in some young professionals and make it cool. The Women’s Club has its annual fundraiser in a few weeks at the country club. I’m handling the auction part. Miriam doesn’t know it, but she’s going to be there even if I have to drag her kicking and screaming. She hates the country club and the Women’s Club. I mean, yes, a woman died right next to her the first time she was there. But it’s not like someone is going to die every time she steps foot inside the club. Right.

—

Raquel V. Reyes was raised in oppositional cultures. Her early childhood was not unlike an I Love Lucy rerun with a heavy-accented, handsome Cuban father and a red-headed Southern mother whose smile brightened the room. A short story fan all her life, she has had stories published in several anthologies, including Mystery Most Theatrical, In the Midnight Hour, and Trouble No More. She lives in Miami, where she watches the waters for mermaids and leviathan.

Find out more about her on her website http://rvreyes.com/

Follow her on Twitter https://twitter.com/LatinaSleuths

Tags: featured, women writers

Category: Interviews, On Writing