This is an absolutely amazing novel. It uses a mixture of contemporary fiction and magical realism to convey the impact of the birth of a severely disabled child on three generations of seemingly ordinary women. In their struggle to love, understand, and care for the child, they come to love, understand and care for each other. It shows how ordinary people can become extraordinary when facing adversity. The tragic becomes transcendent.

After years and years of reading, I am always amazed when I can be pleasantly caught of guard by an exquisite new style of compostion. Ana Suarez's writing is like symphonic music. The poetic verse is brilliant. The story, a child born with severe handicaps, and the three women who fight to see him through his short, but meaningful journey, captures your heart and never lets it go. I have a dear friends who went through a very similar situation with the birth of their son, and having been with them, watching the joy and the agony combine in a universal way to teach us all, I commend, Ms. Suarez on capturing this situation perfectly. This is truly beautiful writing with such quality of depth. An emotional but transforming read!

This book was the absolute BEST book i've ever read, and i just can't narrow it down any more than that! The language was outstandingly gorgeous, the characters were REAL, the emotions were engrossing, and it's now my new favorite book.

A Little Love has been compared to Terry McMillan's Waiting To Exhale, another book with minority (Afro-American) protagonists, but it really fits into a much larger grouping, a long line of confessional books of female friends venting all to each other. Patricia Gaffney's Saving Graces, Maeve Binchy's Circle of Friends, all these fit into the canon under the much larger umbrella of women's fiction. You do NOT have to be a Latina in order to enjoy this novel. The stories here are all fascinating, the women just different enough to hold the reader's interest. A reader will find one or more of the four Latinas with whom to identify, be it the Dominican socialite, the Cubana divorcee, or the academic Chicana. I felt for the academic, Julia, who is slow to know passion, but when it hits---! Wow!!! But my favorite is the extroverted, hyperkinetic Cubana Mercy, who, after a lifetime of finding love in all the wrong places, finds love in an unexpected place. Her mother, who gets into trouble taking questionable contraband to Cuba, is a hoot! She made me laugh out loud more than once. It would not, however, be much fun for a woman to have her as a mother. In fact, she is thoroughly impossible, but adds good dollops of humor to the story, which is not all fun and games. And I adore the proliferation of Spanish words and phrases! I grew up in a bi-lingual household, and this is what it sounded like. You understood what was said through context, even if you didn't always know the exact word or words. Oye meng! This is a funny, fast-moving book. I look forward to C.C. Medina's next foray into fiction.

I'm an avid reader who depends on his friends for recommendations, otherwise he (I) would read nothng but the classics. When my old professor, Preston Allen, author of Hoochie Mama, suggests that I read a book, I never know what to expect. Usually he is right on target, as he was when he invited me to a reading by C. C. Medina and encouraged me (made me) purchase their book. It was an excellent read, a page turner that I did not put down until it was finished. There are four women as the main characters, but I will focus on Isabelle and Julia, who, I believe, are the moral center of the novel. Isabelle is funny and profound in her four years of self-imposed celibacy. Julia, on the other hand, has had a man, the perfect man, for quite a long time. Both of these women, despite their opposite plights, are looking for a little love. The way these women find their loves crosses lines of ethnicity, culture, and sexual identity. A great, great read.

To tell the truth this is the only book I have read from front to back. It is by far my favorite, I hope C.C. Medina comes out with other books...I couldn't put this one down, it was fun to read about the lifestyles of other latinas...

In Pharmacology is Murder, Dirk Wyle is able to wind a story about a murder that takes place in Dade County Florida and goes unsolved for nearly a year. The book is an interesting blend of adventure and clinical humor intertwined in a murder mystery that takes the scientific genious of a middle aged employee of the medical examiner's office through a trial and error process, to solve. The story steps through a crazy trail of deceit and misconception that leads Ben Candidi through the perils of a doctoral program in pharmacology and a love affair with a sophmore medical school student. I recommend this book to anyone who is willing to suffer through some of the dry humor and is unphased by sexual innuendoes.

This Ben Candidi mystery by Dirk Wyle kept me on my toes. A murder mystery takes place in Dade County. Ben Candidi is sent to graduate school at the school of Pharmacology to help solve the mystery. While he is investigating, he meets several original characters that remind me of my own college experience. Along the way, he meets up with a sophomore medical student, Rebecca. This novel had the right amount of mystery, romance, and suspense for me. There is a lot of chemistry jargon, but it is always well explain so as not to leave you in the dark. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who likes a little mystery. I plan to read the other books written by Dirk Wyle.

As a murder mystery involving pharmacology, this novel allowed the introduction of pharmacological techniques with related terminology. The author, Dirk Wyle, is able to describe to the reader very complex concepts and terminology of pharmacology in an understandable language.

At the Dade County Medical Examiners Office in Miami, the Chief Medical Examiner, Dr. Geoffrey Westley, suspects foul play in the death of the chairman at the local pharmacology college, Bryan Medical School. The medical examiner believes the murderer used a protein toxin to facilitate the death of the department chair at the local pharmacology college; however, no puncture marks were visible on the victim.

The technician in the examiner's office, Ben Candidi, is assigned to enroll in the college and determine the method of death and the person responsible. Enrolling into the college allows Ben and the reader to be introduced to many concepts and practices of pharmacology. After acceptance by the pharmacology department, Ben Candidi analyses many toxins and their mechanism of action to determine their probability of being the device of death.

If you like crime stories, you will like this book about a small-time thug who leaves Brooklyn for Miami and becomes a celebrity. Unfortunately, one particular crime was more heinous that most, the cold-blooded murder of a housewife in a botched robbery. Years later this comes back to haunt Chris Ludwigsen/Chris Pacello.

Pacello becomes involved in a nightclub in South Beach that becomes very hot. He changes his image from a mafia goon to a suave nightclub owner to the stars. It's amazing how far he travels from his past. A few changes to the wardrobe, new hairstyle, talk a little less Brooklyn, continue the steroids and have something the celebrities want, a really hot nightclub in a great party town and you're good to go. Of course, you can't take the city out of the boy so there are run-ins with his first partner, an arson and a few beatings that must be administered. A small price to pay to date beautiful women in my book.

But once he thinks he has it all, his world comes crashing down as he is arrested and tried for the murder. This book does a great job following the twist and turns in the trial as well as the intricacies of the underworld hierarchy. While this is not a work of art, if you enjoy reading about the crime world, or you enjoy celebrity name-dropping, you will enjoy this book.

This is the 1st book I read in 2 days. No Joke. I couldn't put it down. I even told my friends I wasn't in the mood to go hang out just to read it. This book is an easy read and worth the money. Get it if you are interested in true life crime stories. You'll enjoy it. To the author, all I have to say is you picked a great story for your first book. You hit the jackpot with this one. "Bravooo"

I finished this book in 3 days and it was hard putting it down. It just kept getting more interesting as I read on. The book talks about how Chris Paciello in South Florida started his nightclub and how popular it became. He became friends with Sammy Sosa, Dennis Rodman, Sting, Robert DeNiro; plus he dated Madonna, Nikki Tyler, Daisy Fuentes, and Jennifer Lopez. I also liked how the author wrote about what was happening in the mob during that time. This book is a must for fans of the mafia.

This is an amazingly good book, for a number of reasons. Anyone who enjoys the novels of James M. Cain or Dashiel Hammett will eat this up. And anyone with an interest in Cuba or the Miami underworld is in for a treat. On top of all that, its just solid hard-boiled writing in the best crime fiction tradition. I can't believe this is the first novel Latour has written in English -- its so self-assured. Hopefully his past novels will be translated into English so we can get them here in the States. Again: if you're a fan of hard-boiled noir, READ THIS BOOK!

One might easy lump Latour's gritty thriller in with the plethora of serviceable South Florida crime fiction on the shelves, but that would be overlooking its' value as a window into modern Cuban society. Set in 1994, the book starts with Elliot Steil, a Cuban English teacher and apathetic Marxist who ekes out a dreary existence in a Havana where food is scarce, and the state's omnipresence stifles expression. His life is thrown into turmoil when an American tourist shows up, claiming to be a friend of his long-vanished father, and offering to help him escape to America. However, in a stunning reversal, Elliot is left to die in the waters off Florida. Rescued by fellow Cuban rafters, he makes it to Miami, where he must learn a whole new way of living in the land of the almighty dollar.

The book is at its' best in showing the unpleasant reality of life in modern Cuba (one completely absent from Daniel Chavarria's Cuban crime caper "Adios Muchachos"), and the bewilderment of a refugee adjusting to life in America. As Elliot gets his measure of America and manages to scrape some cash together, he starts to wonder who would try to kill him and why. His fairly straightforward investigation is broken up with lengthy flashbacks and backstory which are a little awkward, but not overly so. An engaging supporting cast helps him in his quest, from the car thief Hairball, to former student Tony, to a tough Jewish businessman. Less well-conceived are the villains of the piece, who suffer from weak characterizations and unlikely actions. The outcome is not overly surprising, but the book is well worth reading for Latour's thoughtful contrast of modern Cuban and American societies, and the flaws of each.

Elliot Steil, a Cuban teacher managing to exist in contemporary Cuba, is suddenly confronted with forces that threaten his life. Author Jose Latour, a keen observer of the human condition, renders the bandaged passion of protagonist Elliot Steil as well as Martin Cruz Smith does his vulnerable but surprising Arkady.

I continue to read this series since I live in Miami and love reading novels that take place here. However, each time I read one of this author's Lupe Solano books, I find myself asking why.

OK, we get that Lupe is Cuban. But why does every book have to revolve so totally around this fact? I don't recall any other mystery series where the main character's background or heritage is so prominently featured in every single story. There are plenty of other aspects to Miami which could be incorporated into these books...every breath Lupe draws, every step she takes, every time she goes to the bathroom, does *not* have to revolve around Cuba, or the history of Cuba, or thoughts of Cuba, for the book to be worth reading. Maybe the author should take a few hints from Edna Buchanan or Barbara Parker, who manage to instill a Cuban flavor in their Miami novels while not making you feel you're having it shoved down your throat with every page you turn.

I've been around Cuban "society" for many years, and the author goes overboard with it, making her characters come across as snooty, stuffy and unbearable...and not at all real. The Mercedes, the Hattaras, the Armani suits, the ostentatious house...enough already. Lupe is well-off, we get that. We don't need to be hit over the head with it in every paragraph.

I feel that Ms. Aguilera-Garcia uses these books as a springboard for her own political agendas and personal feelings on Cuba and being Cuban. If that's what she wishes to do, that's fine. But these books should be promoted that way, rather than as mysteries. Because in reality, that's all they really are -- a chance for the author to hop up on her Cuban bandwagon and sing a very repetitious tune.

"Havana Heat," by Carolina Garcia-Aguilera, is a detective thriller featuring Miami-based private investigator Lupe Solano. She is a Cuban-American woman in her 30s. She's tough, resourceful, daring, and sometimes a little lusty. The author bio inside the back cover notes that Garcia-Aguilera was born in Cuba, and like her heroine worked as a licensed private detective in Miami.

In this story Lupe becomes involved in two cases involving valuable works of art. Along the way she faces personal danger, deceit and murder. This is a fast-moving, colorful, and sometimes funny tale. The international intrigue and adventure often give the book a sort of James Bond feel--in fact, I could imagine agent 007 finding a worthy partner in Lupe if one of his assignments ever brought him to Miami.

The author does a particularly effective job in illuminating the practical, nuts-and-bolts aspects of Lupe's detective technique. The book is not only an exciting detective thriller--it also is very much about Cuban-American history, politics, and identity. As an "ethnic" American detective, Lupe could be seen as sort of a soul sister to Harry Kemelman's Rabbi Small. But whether you look at this book as a straightforward mystery or as part of the tradition of ethnic American literature, I think that "Havana Heat" is a winner.

Garcia-Aguilera's CAP (Cuban-American Princess) detective Lupe Solano has found a topical issue to stick her nose into; the shady trade in Cuban art. This gray market in art from Cuba is not widely known, but is attracting more attention from the art world and the law enforcement community. It's common knowledge that the Castro government seized the personal property of those who fled the island. The general perception is that this consisted mostly of real estate. Less well known is that it included art, both Cuban and foreign in origin. With the continuing economic crisis the government has taken to selling this art abroad for hard currency. But who does it really belong to, the original owners or the regime that appropriated it with something less than due process of law? To crack the case - and for the second time in the series (Bloody Waters was the first) - Lupe heads to Cuba with her cigar-smoking, rum-drinking, machete-swinging friend Barbara, and once again she's so busy keeping her head down and getting the job done that she hasn't much time to gawk at her homeland. Possibly because of this her adventures on the island have an air of verisimilitude, so much so that you wonder if the author, who was born there, has been back doing research. She mixes these elements with an intriguing take on the mystery surrounding the "Hunt for the Unicorn" tapestries (currently part of the Cloisters Collection in New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art), her usual generous dollop of Miami-Cuban culture and private investigator procedure and, inevitably, a few dead bodies, to make a thoroughly enjoyable story.

I like this author- but she jumps around with her charaters too much and it is easliy confusing.

This murder mystery is a fast paced and cleverly disguised journey. I was wrong in each instance along the way when, in my mind, I labeled one of the characters the likely perp and I just about covered them all.

In all honesty, before this I was not familiar with Clark's other titles or her name. I can guarantee you that will now change. She's my kind of author.

Mary Jane Clark's best suspense so far. I've never cared more about the people in a thriller. My heart was racing and aching for the boys. Loved, loved, loved this book.

First of all I was glad that a book with such catchy title such as " Miami Blues" was out there because is hard to find fiction books locatined in Miami. I rad the reviews in the book, and the word " marvelous," but as I read on I found myself highly disgusted. The story made Cubans and Latin as same as Miami look like a dump-filled with crimminals. What got me mad was that everybody didn't shed a light to help me have a longlasting fun experience reading.I was disguted by the end since what I read before made tereading unpleasent. It'sgood the book was publish in 1984 because that Miami was not done justice. Sometimes is better to be quiet because not even the reviews seem to fit with such experience. In simple words: it Sucks!!!

Miami Blues is my first Charles Willeford novel but it certainly won't be my last. I remember the film Miami Blues (with Alex Baldwin and Jennifer Jason Leigh). I enjoyed it and hoped the novel would be at least half as good. Thankfully it was even better than the film.

In Miami Blues we have a young psychopathic criminal from California landing at Miami International Airport. All he wants is to steal enough money to live on easy street, and he will not let anything get in his way. Unfortunately bad luck and stupidity are stacked against him. Worse, he partners up with an incredibly sweet yet dumb local girl who doesn't offer value for achieving his goals ... no matter how he manipulates her. Worse still, there is a rather crusty old cop out to get him. No spoilers here, but suffice to say Miami Blues has a good ending.

The best part of Miami Blues is Willeford's excellent capturing of the "feel" of Miami. It's very much like Carl Hiaasen material without the caustic satire (..oh, I should add Miami Blues does have funny bits also). And it doesn't take itself too seriously, as if Charles Willeford wasn't planning to write fine literature but simply a good story. He succeeded very nicely.

Bottom line: a minor jewel amongst the masses of mystery novels. Recommended.

Charles Willeford wrote wonderful true to life's absurdities crime fiction, among his many other accomplishments. This novel (which was made in a movie starring Alec Baldwin) is the first in his only series, starring a much put upon Miami detective named Hoke Moseley. In this initial adventure Hoke runs afoul of an intelligent pyschopath named Freddy Frenger and his ditzy hooker girlfriend while investigating the murder of a Hare Krishna. Along the way Hoke loses his teeth, badge, gun and some of his pride, but never his determination. A mere description of the plot wouldn't begin to do justice to this ironic superb book, full as it is of madcap characters coupled with doses of deadly realism. Very few writers can pull off a mix of the comic and hard boiled, but Willeford was one of those few. Indeed, he was one of the best at it. Read the rest of the books in this series if you can find them, then move on to Willeford's other works and his biography penned by Don Herron.
A 5 stars for sure on this tale of Miami mayhem, murder and mischief.

Britt Montero, Miami's top fiction crime reporter, is back on the scene and her beat -- crime in South Florida - is still hot, hot, hot. However, in Edna Buchanan's latest mystery, Miami heat comes face-to-face with chilling conditions.

When Britt goes to a jewelry store where police have found a dead body, it seems she has an interesting story about a jinxed burglar. But nothing in her Miami is that simple. The deceased burglar's scarred body sparks a detective's memory, leading Britt and the cops on a journey for truth and justice. The detective, Craig Burch, is part of the Cold Case Squad and his mission is to solve old crimes. Years before, as a homicide detective, he investigated the kidnapping and murder of a teenager, Ricky Chance.

Chance didn't survive, but his date, Sunny Hartley, lived to tell about her beating and brutal rape. Part of her survival meant leaving the memories behind and immersing herself in her sculptures of ice and stone, leading Britt to dub her the Ice Maiden. It's up to Britt and the Cold Case Squad to draw her out to get closer to the killers.

During their hunt for the truth, Britt gets on the wrong side of the cops and has to navigate newspaper politics to keep the story alive. She continues to throw all of her energy into the story and solving the mystery, and she takes compensatory time off to finish the job.

In getting the job done, Buchanan paints a vivid image of Miami's underside and the contradictions of the city. Her tales of the city weave together Santeria, Miami's wealthy elite, Cubans, Anglos and African Americans. Buchanan's penchant for including all of Miami's people is one of the strengths of the series.

She also brings her realistic style to each of the twists in the novel, making each murder and crime seem as if it's excerpted from your morning paper. Buchanan's style and experience (she won a Pulitzer as a Miami crime reporter) make her novels stronger than many mystery series.

For Britt's fans, this outing, which ties up some of the loose ends in her life, will be a bittersweet read. The usual suspects in Britt's life appear, including Kendall McDonald, Lottie, Onnie and the her newsroom nemesis, Gretchen. Those new to Britt's world of deadlines, corpses and subtropical drama will find it a good, topical novel. However, it is not the best Buchanan has to offer. She, as I imagine many contemporary authors have, refers to September 11th and the national crisis throughout THE ICE MAIDEN. Since it has so little bearing on the Miami crime scene, the references are shallow and distracting. There's also a bit of a hole left after the case is solved, and it's disappointing to catch that in an otherwise surprising tale.

The surprise, which I won't give away, makes the hunt for the killers worth following. As is Britt Montero, a worthy amateur sleuth and heroine. Buchanan's shocker of an ending hints that there are new directions in store for the character and the series. Let's hope what follows is worth looking over the flaws in THE ICE MAIDEN.

--- Reviewed by Bernadette Adams Davis

As always with Edna Buchanan's Britt Montero novels, this one is a fun read, quick and easy, and not exactly thought-provoking. Though the plot isn't as strong as some of her other books, the ending is powerful, and the characters are as interesting as ever. However, if you haven't read her other Britt Montero books, I wouldn't start with this one. Buchanan doesn't bother with very much character development for the main figures, and this isn't one of her strongest books.

Not since the very first book in the Britt Montero series, have I ever been so entranced with a story. I absolutely could not put it down. Ice Maiden is a fantastic read with all the ups and downs that you expect to get with an Edna Buchanan roller coaster ride. But just when you think you've got it figured out, she throws in another turn in the track. Congratulations to Edna. One of the best crime/ Mystery writers that I have ever had the pleasure to read. I just hope another book is in the works. Don't let it end like this for Britt!!!...

I seem to be reading this series backward. Excellent read, suspenseful, interesting romance, human characters. I think women will intuit the killer sooner; I know I did. This is a legal procedural and the main characters are very interesting.
This is a cannot-put-down book. I will read forward from here.

In this intriguing initial book of the Anthony Quintana/ Gail Connors series Gail is accused of murdering her younger sister. She turns to Anthony for legal and emotional aid. When their relationship develops into a steamy romance Quintana wants off the case but not out of her life. The couple explores the old (WASP) and new (Cuban) Miami communities as they race to solve the murder. The story is well plotted and beautifully told. The main character are compelling. Start with this one and then go on to the rest of the series!

I read this novel in just one night- all night long. The plot is suspenseful and engaging. The characters are so compelling that I couldn't stop at just one Barbara Parker novel. I've now read the entire series Connor/Quintana series. In addition to her characters Parker's depiction of Miami gives the reader a real appreciation of the town and its underlying conflicts. I can't wait for the next installment.