Teresa
Dovalpage was born in Havana and now lives in New Mexico. She has published ten
novels (six in Spanish and four in English) and three collections of short
stories. Her first culinary mystery Death Comes in through the Kitchen
(Soho Crime, 2018) is set in Havana and features Padrino, a santero-detective.
Her second mystery, Queen of Bones, was also published
by Soho Crime in November 2019 and includes elements of Santeria and the
Chinese presence in Havana.
Death Comes in
through the Kitchen looks like a
great mystery and crime thriller. How many books are planned for the series?
Soho Crime’s Havana Mystery series has four books—up to now. Death
Comes in through the Kitchen was
followed by Queen of Bones, which is
fresh out the oven (November 2019). It has some of the same characters, like
Lieutenant Marlene Martinez and Padrino, the santero-detective that solves the
case in the first novel. The other two will be released in 2020. Death of a Telenovela Star (June 2020) features
again Marlene Martinez—the story takes place mostly on a cruise ship, not in
Havana, though. The fourth is Death under
the Perseids, which happens both aboard a cruise ship and in Havana.
Is each book
standalone or do they need to be read in order?
They all are standalone but if you read them in order, you’ll see how the
characters evolve. For example, Marlene Martinez goes from a National
Revolutionary Police lieutenant in Havana in the first two books to the owner
of a bakery called La Bakeria Cubana in Miami in the third and fourth novels.
There are thousands of
mystery novels released every year. What makes yours unique?
My books, besides being mysteries, are Cuba travelogues. Born and raised
in the island (I lived there thirty years) I can offer my English-language
readers an insider’s perspective, from accurate descriptions of paladares (private restaurants) to the
way casas particulares (private
accommodations similar to B&Bs) operate. You’ll get a good picture of
contemporary Cuba after reading any of my novels. Let me be your guide!
Why did you decide to
become a writer?
Both my parents were avid readers so books were part of my life since
childhood. Since I was what you would call “a nerd” (rata de biblioteca, library rat in Spanish) the transition from
reader to writer was smooth and almost inevitable. I don’t remember a
particular moment when I decided to be a writer, but even as a teenager I was
writing short stories and enjoying the process.
How did you come up
with the story in Death Comes in through the Kitchen?
It all started when my mom, who still
lives in Cuba, asked me to preserve my grandma’s recipes in a cookbook. I told her no way, I am not a good cook—you can ask my husband.
At her insistence, I ended up including the recipes in a novel I was working on.
It was about an American journalist who goes to Cuba to marry a younger woman,
based on a real-life case. I then added a bit of death and drama and the result
was “a culinary mystery,” a term I didn’t even know back then.
You mean readers can
actually follow your recipes and cook Cuban dishes?
Absolutely! They will learn how to make arroz con pollo (rice
and chicken with all the ingredients cooked together, paella-style), picadillo (ground
beef with raisins), a kind of stew known as caldosa, desserts
like tocinillo (like a flan, but
yummier) and many more.
Did anything stick out
as particularly challenging when writing Death Comes in through the Kitchen?
I ate way too much in the
process. I made all the recipes prior to their inclusion in the book and gained
several pounds before it was over. But my husband was very happy! His favorite
dish turned out to be the caldosa because it has different kinds of meat and
lots of vegetables—un poquito de todo,
a little bit of everything.
What do you like to do
when not writing?
I have a fulltime job at New Mexico Junior College where I teach Spanish
and ESL. My husband and I love to go on cruises, which inspired Death of a Telenovela Star and Death under the Perseids. The shenanigans
that go on aboard a cruise ship can provide plenty of material for several
books.
Where can readers find
out more about your work?