Player’s Vendetta: A Willie Cuesta Mystery

First published in 1999, this outstanding series launch from Edgar finalist Lantigua (Heat Lightning) introduces PI Willie Cuesta, who used to work in the intelligence unit of the Miami PD. Ellie Hernandez hires Willie to locate her fiancé, Roberto Player, whom she hasn’t seen in 10 days. Player was one of the children smuggled out of Cuba to the U.S. without their parents in the early 1960s. More than 35 years earlier, Player’s parents, who were in the entertainment business in Havana, had been shot to death in their home shortly after his emigration. The official line was that they’d been the victims of burglars, but rumors circulated in the Florida Cuban exile community that the killings were motivated by their involvement with the anti-Castro underground. It turns out Player has gone to Cuba to seek answers, and Willie must locate him and try to learn the truth about his parents’ murders. Lantigua makes the most of the intricate plot with its colorful mix of CIA agents, mobsters, and ordinary crooks. This reissue will thrill George Pelecanos fans. (Mar.)