Mango, Mambo, and Murder is the debut of the Caribbean Kitchen Mystery series set in Coral Shores, Miami and featuring food anthropologist, Miriam Quinones-Smith. Miriam and husband Robert have just moved back to Robert's home town of Coral Shores from New York and Miriam is having a hard time adjusting. Robert's mother Marjory makes no bones about the fact that she doesn't like Miriam, she's not good enough for her favorite son, so the only two people that Miriam can rely on are her four year old toddler Manny and best friend from high school, Alma.

When two local ladies suddenly die, Detective Frank Pullman is quick to point the finger at Alma, claiming that she's a major cocaine dealer and has been selling a bad product. But, Miriam knows that her friend is not responsible so she sets out to find the real reason behind the women's deaths.

I enjoyed getting to know Miriam and watching her develop a backbone, it wasn't too hard to figure out whodunit, and some of the recipes that are mentioned sound delicious. Fair warning that the dialogue switches back and forth from Spanish to English quite frequently, and if you are like me with absolutely NO understanding of the Spanish language it can be a little frustrating at times. Overall, a good way to spend an afternoon.

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