Soho
Published July 14, 2026
Reviewed by Barbara Fister
Teresa is the author of several mysteries (as is the author of this mystery). Born in Cuba, she now lives in the U.S. and writes her stories in English. She’s surprised when Estrella, a woman from her Cuban past, reaches out, eager to take her on a trip back to Cuba to solve a mystery from their school days. In 1980 Yoyi, a student who Estrella particularly disliked, had an affair with a handsome English teacher. Both were found dead; the teacher having apparently thrown himself out of a window, Yoyi dying of poison. The authorities ruled it a double suicide, but both Teresa and Estrella were convinced it was foul play. Estrella wants the author of detective stories to return to Havana in January of 2020 to do some detecting. Teresa isn’t so sure she can solve the case, but it has been a long time since she’s been to her home country and she is curious about why Estrella is so eager to find out what really happened all those years ago.
The story is told in alternating timelines, as is so common these days. In 1980 we get to know Teresita, a shy bespectacled girl who has a hard time fitting in, but is observant and has learned many secrets, like the affair between Yoyi and her teacher, and the fact that her teacher pays a pharmacy worker for illicit drugs. While we see glimpses of the girls’ lives, going to a pioneer camp to work the fields and navigating the mysteries of boys and the “secret of life,” Teresa and Estrella track down former teachers and students who might know what really happened.
Through this dual narrative we see the country then and more recently, when restrictions on private business have loosened up, luxury hotels for foreigners have replaced dilapidated schools, and entrepreneurs find holiday homes and drivers for Americans with dollars to spend. Revisiting her past is powerful for Teresa: “Nostalgia had lurked within me all these years, unnoticed by anyone, including myself, like a letter slipped between the pages of a forgotten book.” At the same time, she’s not sure what is motivating Estrella, who is anxious about her seriously ill mother back in the U.S., but who insists they must find out what happened for reasons that are unclear.
Teresa Dovalpage (the author) has written a dozen novels that deal with the fault lines between Cubans and Cuban Americans. Like The Novel Detective, they sometimes have touches of magical realism but overall the tone is light, there is a lot of humor, and the narrative is informal, like talking to a friend. Here, the author has stepped into one of her mysteries, but the metafictional element is not over-emphasized. Instead, it’s an amiable mystery that offers glimpses of Cuba at two points in time through the adventures of two women who emigrated, but never completely left.