In this week’s Corks & Conversation with Raquel V. Reyes, we had a fun and enlightening time. Have a listen …
We are finally together again, at Cathi’s beautiful home in South Dakota, and thrilled to be meeting with Raquel V. Reyes, the debut author of Mango, Mambo, and Murder. We know Raquel from way back, as she is co-chair of Sleuthfest, where we both met. She is such an inspiration for us! And we love her cozy mystery featuring a Cuban-American cooking show star and amateur sleuth, Miriam Quinones-Smith. We suggest you get a copy of this novel for a fun read or even a gift for the mystery and foodie lovers in your family! (indie bookshop.org or Amazon.com)
On top of that her novel was given a good review by the New York Times …
“Raquel V. Reyes’s series debut, MANGO, MAMBO, AND MURDER, furthers my belief that the cozy mystery has become one of the most diverse, and most vibrant, in contemporary crime fiction…it executes its mission — mixing standard tropes, memorable characters, the importance of family and murder in unexpected quarters — with panache.”
We shared a glass of Albarino, a Spanish white wine, while we asked Raquel about her inspiration for this novel. Turns out the first scene came to her and she built the story from that.
“The first that came to me was the scene, which I wrote as the opening scene, where the first body drops. She’s sitting next to somebody and her face flops into the chicken salad. The image was there, the sound was there, the wilty little green lettuce, I mean I just had it all there.”
Another aspect of this novel that had us salivating was all the good Caribbean cooking that was “Abuela approved.” Raquel had inspiration for this since she grew up in Miami around Cuban grandparents and all the authentic Caribbean cooking.
“There would always be stuff cooking. There was always, on the back of the stove, a pot of either orange peels or grapefruit peels, and she was making marmalade… and then she would also make the little meringue bites, the little meringue kisses”
This novel is the start of, hopefully, a long-running cozy series, so we asked Raquel about her writing routine with deadlines. She explained,
“I don’t think everybody has to write everyday. You know, the people who can lock themselves in a room and come out with 60k words, they don’t need to write everyday. But there are some of who do need to write everyday, and that consistency really works for me”
You are sure to enjoy this episode where Raquel gives us a lot of laughs and insight!
Some highlights from the Episode:
5:55 Miriam, her protagonist is a food anthropologist and home cook
9:25 The book’s dedication story
10:10 Anyone else scared of pressure cookers?
11:05 Why we love cozy mysteries and humor
17:47 She planted Easter eggs for the Miami crowd
18:30 Raquel’s NYT Book Review story
24:44 The great thing about cozies? There’s something for everyone!
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