Bloody Waters

As a mystery author who writes about the multicultural southern California coast, I've found Carolina Garcia-Aguilera's Lupe Solano series fascinating since I first came in contact with it by way of this debut mystery. Her works are set in Miami, the Florida equivalent of my multicultural home base. Garcia-Aguilera's protagonist is Lupe Solano, the daughter of wealthy Cuban exiles. Her father dreams of sailing his yacht home to his native Cuba following Castro's demise. One of her sisters is a thoroughly modern nun. Her other sister is a single mother of two. Her assistant is her cousin Leonardo, a bodybuilder. Her lovers are varied and numerous.In BLOODY WATERS, Lupe becomes involved in the search for an illegally adopted child's biological mother. Garcia-Aguilera's plot takes many twists and turns and becomes one of the most sophisticated first mysteries I have read in years. It is a terrific book, and I recommend it highly.

one of the best books i've read in a while. enjoyable for all

I love the Lupe Solano books - the only problem is that there are not enough of them! After I stumbled across Bloody Waters and couldn't put it down, I promptly read the other two. Can't wait for more! Lupe is an engaging heroine with an "in your face" style that is both funny and admirable. Her plots are fascinating, even for jaded long-time mystery readers. I look forward to many more!

I enjoyed the book. Lupe Solano is more entertaining than most PIs, and the plot was fairly interesting. I was glad that Lupe's escape from Cuba wasn't filled with the comic-book type heroics that plague most novels. I especially enjoyed her sister Lourdes. I was a bit put off by Lupe's love life, or rather, her sex life. She sleeps with men to satisfy her biological needs, to get information from them, and to thank them. I don't like male characters like this; I would have expected better from a female author. I appreciated the look at the Cuban culture and the fact that Lupe Solano was so passionate about being Cuban; it was curious, though, that none of Lupe's three bed partners was himself Cuban. I will probably try another Garcia-Aguilera book.

Carolina Garcia-Aquilera introduces us to Cuban born PI Lupe Solano. I must say I was surprised. The character development is superb and the plot left me guessing (and I usually figure them out in the first two chapters)