Bloody secrets

Miami private investigator Lupe Solano's new case goes back 40 years--to the evening before Castro captured Havana, when Luis Delgado's father and Miguel de la Torre decided to liquidate their holdings and leave Cuba. The de la Torres escaped, but Luis"family did not. Luis eventually left Cuba by raft and is now trying to reclaim the family share of the money from the de la Torres, who have become among the most prominent of Miami families. After he is nearly murdered, Luis uses a diamond his parents gave him to hire Lupe and attorney Tommy McDonald, Lupe's occasional boyfriend, to recover the money. This third Lupe Solano novel is uneven but not without interest. The dialogue is lively; the intriguing and amusing characters are well developed; and Garcia-Aguilera does a good job of educating readers about recent Cuban history. Unfortunately, the mystery element is weak, a flaw throughout the series. Still, Lupe is unique among Miami sleuths, and as a whole, the series" strengths outweigh its weaknesses. John Rowen