Death Under the Perseids

When down-on-her-luck Florida pet groomer Mercedes Spivey, the heroine of this lighthearted outing from Dovalpage (Death of a Telenovela Star), wins a free cruise for two to Havana, Cuba, where she was born and raised, she jumps at the chance to visit her grandmother there. The trip’s also a chance, she hopes, to rekindle the romance with Nolan, her Spanish professor husband. Mercedes suspects duplicity in the free cruise when two people with connections to her late ex-boyfriend, writer Lorenzo Alvear, also appear on the ship. One of them, a professor who worked closely with Lorenzo, soon disappears, and by the time Mercedes arrives in Havana, it becomes clear she’s dealing with a killer bent on revenge. Mercedes’s relationship with Lorenzo, who died by suicide after she left him for Nolan, unravels in flashbacks, which portray her at first as shallow and selfish but lay the ground for the full, complex character that later emerges. Armchair travelers will appreciate the views of Havana through the eyes of Mercedes and her grandmother, and, while many readers may guess the ending early on, the journey proves to be much more than its destination. Dovalpage remains a writer to watch. (Dec.)