Harper's Court: Blog Tour: Last Seen In Havana by

Title: Last Seen in Havana A Havana Mystery Book 4

Author: Teresa Dovalpage

Genre: Mystery

Publisher: SoHo Crime

Publishing Date: Feburary 6, 2024

Rating: 💣💣💣💣

A Cuban American woman searches for her long-lost mother and fights to restore a beautiful but crumbling Art Deco home in the heart of Havana in this moving, immersive new mystery, perfect for fans of Of Women and Salt.  Newly widowed baker Mercedes Spivey flies from Miami to her native Cuba in 2019 to care for her ailing paternal grandmother. Mercedes’s life has been shaped by loss, beginning with the mysterious unsolved disappearance of her mother when Mercedes was a little girl. Returning to Cuba revives Mercedes’s hopes of finding her mother as she attempts to piece together the few scraps of information she has. Could her mother still be alive?  Thirty-three years earlier, in 1986, an American college student with endless political optimism falls deliriously in love with a handsome Cuban soldier while on a spontaneous visit to the island. She decides to stay permanently, but soon discovers that nothing is as it seems in Havana.  The two women’s stories proceed in parallel as Mercedes gets closer to the truth about her mother, uncovering shocking family secrets in the process . . .

Wow. That was what came to mind by the time I got to the end of the book. It definitely was a shocker by the time I got to that point. This goes to show why I'm a firm believer of people not keeping secrets from their children/grandchildren. I felt so sorry for Mercedes as I was going through the story. My favorite part of the story was the dual timeline aspect. It fit in right where it needed to be. I would advise that you read book 3 in the series first, as it gives a little more to Mercedes background (The other two i believe do not contain her character, so they're not integral to this particular story.) Although I do wish there was a little more with the ending, I do plan to go back and checkout the author's backlist.

Amazon * Apple * B&N * Google * Kobo * Bookbub * Goodreads

Book Links: Amazon: https://a.co/d/2Bu7pXO

Apple: https://books.apple.com/us/book/last-seen-in-havana/id6448879804

B&N: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/last-seen-in-havana-teresa-dovalpage/1143455932?ean=9781641295390

Google: https://play.google.com/store/books/details/Teresa_Dovalpage_Last_Seen_in_Havana?id=hIC9EAAAQBAJ

Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/last-seen-in-havana

Bookbub: https://www.bookbub.com/books/last-seen-in-havana-by-teresa-dovalpage

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/150065074-last-seen-in-havana

Title: Death Under the Persedis, A Havana Mystery (Prequel to Last Seen in Havana)

Author: Teresa Dovalpage

Genre: Mystery

Publisher: Penguin Randomhouse/ SoHo Crime

Publication Date: December 7, 2021

Rating: 💣💣💣💣

About the book:

There’s no such thing as a free cruise in Cuban American author Teresa Dovalpage's addictively clever new Havana mystery.  Cuban-born Mercedes Spivey and her American husband, Nolan, win a five-day cruise to Cuba. Although the circumstances surrounding the prize seem a little suspicious to Mercedes, Nolan’s current unemployment and their need to spice up their marriage make the decision a no-brainer. Once aboard, Mercedes is surprised to see two people she met through her ex-boyfriend Lorenzo: former University of Havana professor Selfa Segarra and down-on-his-luck Spanish writer Javier Jurado. Even stranger: they also received a free cruise.  When Selfa disappears on their first day at sea, Mercedes and Javier begin to wonder if their presence on the cruise is more than coincidence. Mercedes confides her worries to her husband, but he convinces her that it’s all in her head.  However, when Javier dies under mysterious circumstances after disembarking in Havana, and Nolan is nowhere to be found, Mercedes scrambles through the city looking for him, fearing her suspicions were correct all along.

My Thoughts:

This one took me on an emotional ride. I was not expecting that, but I have to say I enjoyed this read. It shows how secrets can come to the surface even when you think they're burried.

Amazon * Apple * B&N * Google * Kobo * Bookbub * Goodreads

Book Links: Amazon: https://a.co/d/81gdI1X

Apple: https://books.apple.com/us/book/death-under-the-perseids/id1557163005

B&N: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/death-under-the-perseids-teresa-dovalpage/1138980118?ean=9781641294058

Google: https://play.google.com/store/books/details/Teresa_Dovalpage_Death_under_the_Perseids?id=GBsiEAAAQBAJ

Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/death-under-the-perseids

Bookbub: https://www.bookbub.com/books/death-under-the-perseids-by-teresa-dovalpage

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/59109228-death-under-the-perseids

**Don’t miss the rest of the series!**

Find them on Amazon-

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0881XQZPK

About the Author

Writer, translator and college professor, Teresa Dovalpage is a Cuban transplant firmly rooted in New Mexico. She is the author of twelve novels, among them the Havana Mystery series, three short story collections and four theater plays. She lives with her husband, one dog and too many barn cats. Her website is http://teredovalpage.com