Cuban Detective Fiction

As I was perusing the new book shelf in the library, I bumped into yet another detective novel closely resembling the old pulp fiction novels. There seems to be a resurgence of the genre. Lately, I've noticed a few of these are Cuban detective novels. The first one I read, the title of which escapes me, I hadn't mentioned because, at the risk of being sexist, it was definitely a man's novel. It was like being the only woman in a sports bar, a little too much testosterone for my tastes.

However, the one I picked up the other day, Havana Blue, was fascinating. It centers around a missing person's case, set against the backdrop of Havana. The chain-smoking, rum drinking, perpetually in trouble, and very burned out police lieutenant Mario Conde, although a spiritual descendant of the PI's of old, shares the more modern sensibility of detectives like Stuart Kaminsky's Porfiry Rostnikov or even James Lee Burke's Dave Robicheaux. It's interesting that both Rostnikov and Conde function in socialist societies.

Part of a series of previously published novels by Leonardo Padura, who I was surprised to learn is a Cuban writer living in Cuba, it was recently translated into English. Although not glaringly political, the political situation in inextricably intertwined in both the story and the lives of the characters.

Although it was noteworthy, I haven't quite made up my mind yet. I want to read a few more. So next, after having put down Dick Morris' Outrage- I just wasn't in the mood- is a biography of Benjamin Disraeli. Told you, this summer I seem to have a bug about Victorian England, or is that just what's being published?