In the War Zone of the Heart: Willie Cuesta Mystery Stories

Each of the 12 short stories in this appealing collection from Lantigua (The Ultimate Havana) follows a predictable pattern. Someone in distress from one of the culturally rich Latino neighborhoods of Miami, Fla., approaches the Cuban American Willie Cuesta, a crafty cop turned PI, for protection from a perceived miscreant––an extortionist, kidnapper, murderer, thief, or revenge-seeker. With a modicum of background clues and the aid of well-placed contacts in the Miami PD, where he once worked, or in the Latino community, the courageous and compassionate Cuesta rescues the potential victim and apprehends the malefactor. Only once, in “The Revenge of the Puma,” is Cuesta outsmarted––by a mystery writer, of course. The narratives are consistently straightforward, light, and crisp, bogging down only with thumbnail histories of whichever Central or South American country is featured in a given tale. Also, one could have done without Cuesta drooling over the stock character of the long-legged beautiful blonde, who often appears in the role of an immigration lawyer, and one wishes at times Lantigua had gone deeper into what make him tick. Crime fiction fans will be satisfied. (Sept.)