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Rating: 
Summary: Good but loose ends
Review: Carolina Garcia-Aguilera is one of the finest mystery writers to emerge within the last decade. With her sixth Lupe Solano mystery BITTER SUGAR, Ms. Garcia-Aguilera keeps her reputation improving. In this novel, Lupe finds herself hired by an old friend of her father's. The expatriate Cuban sugar planter wants Lupe to investigate the details of a business proposal involving sugar plantations that had been held by his family for nearly two centuries before Castro's revolution. A homicide soon occurs, and Lupe finds herself dragged once more into an adventure suited perfectly for a contemporary American woman with proud ties to her Cuban roots. As always, Lupe and her supporting characters are major attractions of this series. Ms. Garcia-Aguilera's presentation of the minlging of cultures in the Florida of today is another treat I especially enjoy. BITTER SUGAR is among the best of the Lupe Solano series, and I recommend it heartily.
Rating: 
Summary: A fantastoc mystery that gives insight into another culture
Review: Her Cuban-American father dislikes the profession of Miami-based private detective Lupe Solano because he does not believe this is a proper profession for a good girl. Thus, when he asks Lupe to help his friend Ramon, she immediately agrees to show him that she is good at her trade.
Ramon wants Lupe to investigate an offer to buy the five sugar mills they once owned in Cuba before Castro took control. His nephew Alexander wants to sell but cannot without Ramon's signature. Ramon stubbornly refuses. Alexander asks Ramon to meet him at a dumpy hotel, but when he arrives there he finds his nephew dead. The police believe Ramon had the motive and opportunity so they arrest him for second-degree murder. Lupe obtains an attorney for the accused and begins making inquiries that will clear Ramon's name.
The Lupe Solano mysteries provide readers with a taste of how it feels for Cuban expatriates to live in America. BITTER SUGAR is a great installment in this fine series because the audience sees a different side of Lupe, who desperately wants to gain her father's approval to the point of risking her life. Carolina Garcia-Aguilera captures the attention of her fans from the very first page and never lets go until the final page when new readers will want to obtain the previous novels so they can read more Solano adventures. Harriet Klausner
Rating: 
Summary: Change of Pace Next Time Please!
Review: Once again, this author has presented her political views on Cuba under the guise of a novel. Lupe is an interesting character and the books are well-written. However, they continue to be so overrun with everything Cuban (obviously the author's personal feelings on the subject) that they end up turning intolerable. Couple this with the author's constant need to hit us over the head with Lupe's wealth and background, and the whole concept of the novel gets lost under the trivialities. Pages and pages on Cuban sugar mills is not why I picked up this book. Had I wanted to learn about that, I would've bought a history book. I find it hard to believe that the author can't find anything in such a vibrant city as Miami to write about without drowning the entire story in Cuba. She'd do herself and readers of her books a great service if she could manage to produce one novel that wasn't a history of Cuba and its politics, and that didn't focus on her obvious obsession with the country.
Rating:
Summary: Meant to Be Enjoyed Like a Fine Wine
Review: This first-person detective novel about private investigator Lupé Solano, set in Miami sometime after the Elian Gonzales affair, is a wonderful woman's FANTASY!! I came across this book because I was specifically looking for books with WOMEN as the private investigators. The exotic setting also attracted me. This book has far exceeded my expectations-so much so, that I anticipate reading the book again and again. I LOVED this book. Lupé is a bright, intelligent young woman out of the Cuban community in Miami, who has become a private investigator, much to the chagrin of her conservative Cuban family. The character is single, either late 20's or early 30's. She tools around in a Mercedes, conducts half her meetings in lavish restaurants, and has dashingly handsome men coming in and out of her life like a revolving door! This is what I mean by the book being a woman's fantasy. This lightens up the book compared to other, male private investigator books. It was a nice change from the PI books where the main character is barely making ends meet, and always dealing with one scruffy person after another. I enjoy exotic settings and foreign cultures, and that made this book doubly enjoyable for me. I learned a lot about the Cuban community in south Florida, and was quite favorably impressed! I also learned about what it was like for the Cuban exiles before, during, and after they left Cuba, as well as how and why they left. Lupé investigates a double-homicide with all sorts of interesting characters. But she does it all in STYLE. This book is definitely NOT a thriller, in terms of not being able to put it down. It's a book to be read leisurely, and savored, page by page, just like a fine wine. The first thing I'm going to do now is see if this author has written any more books for this character, as it appears to be first in a possible series. If there are any more, I intend to buy every one!
Rating:
Summary: Meant to Be Enjoyed Like a Fine Wine
Review: This first-person detective novel about private investigator Lupé Solano, set in Miami sometime after the Elian Gonzales affair, is a wonderful woman's FANTASY!! I came across this book because I was specifically looking for books with WOMEN as the private investigators. The exotic setting also attracted me. This book has far exceeded my expectations-so much so, that I anticipate reading the book again and again. I LOVED this book. Lupé is a bright, intelligent young woman out of the Cuban community in Miami, who has become a private investigator, much to the chagrin of her conservative Cuban family. The character is single, either late 20's or early 30's. She tools around in a Mercedes, conducts half her meetings in lavish restaurants, and has dashingly handsome men coming in and out of her life like a revolving door! This is what I mean by the book being a woman's fantasy. This lightens up the book compared to other, male private investigator books. It was a nice change from the PI books where the main character is barely making ends meet, and always dealing with one scruffy person after another. I enjoy exotic settings and foreign cultures, and that made this book doubly enjoyable for me. I learned a lot about the Cuban community in south Florida, and was quite favorably impressed! I also learned about what it was like for the Cuban exiles before, during, and after they left Cuba, as well as how and why they left. Lupé investigates a double-homicide with all sorts of interesting characters. But she does it all in STYLE. This book is definitely NOT a thriller, in terms of not being able to put it down. It's a book to be read leisurely, and savored, page by page, just like a fine wine. The first thing I'm going to do now is see if this author has written any more books for this character, as it appears to be first in a possible series. If there are any more, I intend to buy every one!
Rating:
Summary: ONE HOT SUMMER
Review: THIS IS THE HOTTEST BOOK I'VE EVER READ,FROM THE MOMENT I STARTED READING IT TO THE END, I COULD NOT PUT IT DOWN. I THOUGHT THE END WAS VERY SICK WHAT THEY DID TO MARGARITA, I THINK I WOULD'VE JUST LEFT HIM.
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