Third in the Miami mystery series featuring “spicy, sassy, and thoroughly modern” Cuban-American PI Lupe Solano, taking on a case that could make or break her (The Austin Chronicle). In 1950s Havana, two men were successful business partners with everything to lose when Fidel Castro came to power. One fled and started over in Miami. The other ended up a political prisoner. And now the son of that prisoner has made his way to South Florida, ready to claim his promised legacy from the family that betrayed his. When Luis Delgado comes to Lupe Solano’s investigation agency, she’s pretty sure that he can’t afford her, but she’s willing to listen. His tale of crossing to Florida on a makeshift raft, theft, and attempted murder implicates one of Miami’s most powerful Cuban-American families. Going up against them—and losing—would destroy everything Lupe has built for herself. But she’s never been afraid of risk. And now, in one of the hottest cities in the world, she’ll find herself walking on thin ice . . . Praise for the Lupe Solano Mysteries “Solano has blossomed into one of the genre’s most formidable protagonists.” —Chicago Tribune “Suspenseful, provocative, and satisfying.” —Publishers Weekly “Carolina Garcia-Aguilera has created one fine PI in Lupe Solano. The series . . . does well with the wry and, when necessary, wrathful Solano.” —New York Daily News

Margarita and her thirty-something Cuban-American friends Vivian and Anabel are still trying to figure it all out, wondering if the right pair of Manolo Blahniks equal happiness. This hot Miami Beach-based read is the story of three women trying to get it right--and having some fun along the way.

“Garcia-Aguilera has created a new private eye named Lupe Solano, and what a creation she is—strong, sexy, funny, and Miami-smart.” —Nelson DeMille, #1 New York Times–bestselling author Guadalupe Solano was raised learning about Cuba from her immigrant parents. But all Lupe knows is that growing up in a traditional Cuban-American household in Miami hasn’t been easy for a woman with an independent streak and no desire to settle down. Being single and a PI is a constant test of her close-knit family’s tolerance . . . Nevertheless, Lupe is good at her job—and has a soft spot for children, even if she doesn’t want any of her own. So when the adoptive parents of a young girl with an inherited rare blood condition want Lupe to find their daughter’s birth mother for a bone marrow transplant, she can’t refuse. The adoption was private—and illegal—facilitated by a high-profile Miami attorney running a baby-selling scheme from Cuba. Lupe will go to any lengths to save this girl’s life, even if it means her first-ever trip to the homeland just might be her last . . . “Sexy.” —Chicago Tribune “Fascinating . . . witty . . . compelling.” —The Miami Herald “Carolina Garcia-Aguilera adds a long-awaited voice to the South Florida panoply of crime writers. Cuban-born Lupe Solano is a bright and sassy PI, and Bloody Waters provides an auspicious debut. Welcome to the neighborhood Ms. Solano.” —Les Standiford, New York Times–bestselling author “The Cuban-American Catholic background is a facet of Florida life not often explored in this genre. A talent worth watching.” —Kirkus Reviews

The dearest friend of Lupe Solana's beloved "Papi," Ramón Suarez was the owner of a prosperous sugar mill back in Cuba until Castro forced him into exile. Now an unnamed Spanish source wants to purchase the confiscated property at a fraction of its true value. Suarez wants the sexy, smart, hot-tempered South Florida P.I. to find out why, but Ramon's lazy, no-good nephew Alexander just wants to take the money and run. Then Alexander is found brutally slain in a sleazy Miami hotel -- his last known visitor, Tío Ramón, accused of murder. Lupe's routine journey down a paper trail now turns into something darker and more twisted, entangling her in a mysterious web of spun sugar and blood that will bring bullets smashing through her window and death to her door.

Miami’s favorite “feisty and engaging” Cuban-American sleuth is back to tackle deadly domestic drama in her second outing following Bloody Waters (People). With her investigation agency running as smoothly as her Mercedes, Lupe Solano finally has time to take a vacation to Key West, the home of one of her former lovers. But sun and sex will have to wait when her best friend, interior designer Margarita Vidal, passes away in a car accident. Before she died, Margarita had seemed preoccupied and mentioned that she knew something about Lupe’s latest case—a jewelry store owner’s killing of a thief. Determined to figure out what Margarita was trying to tell her, Lupe throws herself into the investigation, uncovering unlikely connections between marriage and murder . . . Praise for the Lupe Solano Mysteries “Sexy.” —Chicago Tribune “A fascinating hero.” —The Miami Herald “Carolina Garcia-Aguilera has created a new private eye named Lupe Solano, and what a creation she is—strong, sexy, funny, and Miami-smart. A wonderful new addition to the ranks of female PIs.” —Nelson DeMille, #1 New York Times–bestselling author

Miami PI Lupe Solano gets drawn into a religious mystery that could roil the Cuban community—on both sides of the Florida straits . . . Being summoned by a Mother Superior brings back a lot of bad memories from Lupe Solano’s Catholic school experience; it’s only as a favor to her older sister, a nun, that she agrees to the meeting at all. A mysterious European order has appeared in Miami, one that can boast certifiable miracles in its past—and is now predicting a new one: On the Cuban Day of Independence, the statue of the Virgin of Our Lady of Charity will cry real tears. This is a direct hit to the Cuban soul, and a suspicious Lupe agrees to help debunk the miracle before it happens. Just when she’s able to justify spying on nuns, Lupe finds one drowned in a baptismal font—and that’s only the beginning of a case that will make Lupe question whether she’s on the side of the angels or devils . . . “Witty, bubbly, sexy and suspenseful . . . a first-rate mystery.” —The Plain Dealer “A memorable tale of Cuban-American life, this novel boasts an engaging plot and a fiery heroine armed with sharp insights into Cuban and Catholic ways that will lead readers happily into the sultry heat of Little Havana.” —Publishers Weekly

This issue has been fun to put together. As a Maryland resident, I’ve always been partial to stories set in my home state, and Golden Age mystery author Zenith Brown is here this time with Murder in Maryland, a classic mystery originally published under her “David Frome” pseudonym. (She also wrote as Leslie Ford.) Add to that more mysteries by Hal Charles (another Solve-It-Yourself mystery challenge), Lester Dent (author of the famous Shadow pulp novels), Murray Leinster (whose name most science fiction readers should recognize), plus a great tale by Carolina Garcia-Aguilera (selected by Barb Goffman), and you have a terrific lineup. Alas, I wasn’t able to get to another Frank Lovell Nelson story, but his telepathic detective will be back next week. In the words of TV hucksters, But wait, there’s more! Remember, we also include great science fiction and fantasy in every issue, and here we have a bunch of classics by Lester del Rey (a rare fantasy from John W. Campbell’s Unknown first published in 1940), a devilish fantasy tale by Jerome Bixby, and a science fiction story by Robert Silverberg & Randall Garrett in collaboration. Plus I’m sneaking in one of my own Zelloque fantasies, written when I was reading the Richard Burton translation of The Thousand and One Nights. The influence shows. Our science fiction novel this issue is Get Off My World, by Eando Binder. —John Betancourt, Editor Here’s the complete lineup: Mysteries “This Will Slay You,” by Dale Clark [novelet] “Playing by the Rules,” by Hal Charles [Solve-It-Yourself Mystery] “The Pipeline Juggernaut,” by Lester Dent [short story] “Pink Ears,” by Murray Leinster [short story] “The Right Profile,” by Carolina Garcia-Aguilera [Barb Goffman Presents Mystery] Murder in Maryland, by Zenith Brown [novel] Science Fiction & Fantasy “The Pipes of Pan,” by Lester del Rey [fantasy short story] “The Incomplete Theft,” by Robert Silverberg & Randall Garrett [science fiction short story] “The Last Guardian of Ru Ishtl,” by John Gregory Betancourt [fantasy short story] “The Battle of the Bells,” by Jerome Bixby [fantasy short story] Get Off My World, by Eando Binder [novel]

Mandada por su madre para reclamar la gloria familiar mediante la restauración de un casino de La Habana que perdieron cuando Castro asumió el poder, Esmerelda se propuso encontrar a su hermana periodista, una misión que la lleva a los bares y callejones de Las Vegas.

Miami P.I. Lupe Solano overhears a conversation and finds herself drawn into a hunt for a legendary masterpiece, the eighth Unicorn Tapestry, a piece of art that someone is willing to kill for.