On Hallowed Ground: A Willie Cuesta Mystery

In Lantigua's gripping fourth novel featuring Miami PI Willie Cuesta (after 2007's The Lady from Buenos Aires), Carmen Vickers de Estrada, who moved to Miami from Medellín, Colombia, to escape the threat of kidnapping, asks Cuesta, who's been serving as security chief for his brother's nightclub, to protect her son, José, and his girlfriend, Catalina Cordero. Two years earlier in Colombia, Carmen's husband was killed resisting abduction, and a year later, José was held captive for seven months even after the ransom was paid. After only a few days on the job, Cuesta witnesses a team of men snatch Carmen from a car blocked on a Key Biscayne road. Cuesta's quest to rescue Catalina, whose relationship with her captors is unclear, takes him to Colombia. The fast-paced action is well matched by concise prose, making this a treat for Elmore Leonard devotees. (Mar.)