Raquel V. Reyes

Raquel V. Reyes was raised in oppositional cultures. Her early childhood was not unlike an I Love Lucy rerun. With a heavy-accented, handsome Cuban father and a red-headed Southern mother whose smile brightened the room, she saw her family’s joys and troubles mirrored in the popular show, something that contributed to her resilience in the face of societal prejudice. It’s a lesson that has stayed with her and influences her poetry, middle grades stories, and genre fiction.

A short story fan all her life, Raquel recently had several of her own stories published, including “A Star Goes Dark” in the 15th Malice Domestic anthology, in which she explores colorism in the Latinx community. Dedicated to writing with a message of cultural representation as well as lifting marginalized writers, she maintains a blog with interviews with crime writers of color and book reviews of Latinx popular fiction.

She earned a Fine Arts degree in Theater Directing from the University of New Mexico. Her “Let’s put on a show.” ethos has translated into her organizing 200 volunteers for an HIV+ food bank event, co-chairing the SleuthFest writing conference, and directing children’s plays. Raquel is a Sisters in Crime Eleanor Taylor Bland Crime Fiction Writers of Color award runner-up.

Raquel’s soul food is croquetas with a Jupiña chaser. She lives in Miami, where she watches the waters for mermaids and leviathan.

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Featured Titles...

FILM/TV NEWS: MANGO, MAMBO, AMD MURDER optioned for tv by gato grande with cuban-american showrunner art alamo writing and producing

2022 Left Award Winner for Best Humorous Mystery Novel

Mango, Mambo, and Murder
Cuban-American cooking show star Miriam Quiñones-Smith becomes a seasoned sleuth in Raquel V. Reyes's Caribbean Kitchen Mystery debut, a savory treat for fans of Joanne Fluke and Jenn McKinlay.

Food anthropologist Miriam Quiñones-Smith's move from New York to Coral Shores, Miami, puts her academic career on hold to stay at home with her young son. Adding to her funk is an opinionated mother-in-law and a husband rekindling a friendship with his ex. Gracias to her best friend, Alma, she gets a short-term job as a Caribbean cooking expert on a Spanish-language morning TV show. But when the newly minted star attends a Women's Club luncheon, a socialite sitting at her table suddenly falls face-first into the chicken salad, never to nibble again.

When a second woman dies soon after, suspicions coalesce around a controversial Cuban herbalist, Dr. Fuentes--especially after the morning show's host collapses while interviewing him. Detective Pullman is not happy to find Miriam at every turn. After he catches her breaking into the doctor's apothecary, he enlists her help as eyes and ears to the places he can't access, namely the Spanish-speaking community and the tawny Coral Shores social scene.

As the ingredients to the deadly scheme begin blending together, Miriam is on the verge of learning how and why the women died. But her snooping may turn out to be a recipe for her own murder.

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★Mango, Mambo, and Murder has everything you look for in a cozy mystery but also feels like a breath of fresh air. —Bookpage, Starred Review

★The character-driven debut introduces a fresh protagonist, a Cuban American woman trying to maintain her culinary heritage and Spanish language while attempting to find friends and a killer. --Library Journal, Starred Review

"Enjoyable . . . Fans of Mia P. Manansala's Arsenic and Adobo will want to check this out."
--Publishers Weekly

"A 'must read' for mystery buffs with an affinity for cozy mysteries and amateur women sleuths . . . Original and fun."
--Midwest Book Review

Calypso, Corpses, and Cooking
It’s time for a savory soirée—but something sinister is stewing—in Raquel V. Reyes’s second delightful Caribbean Kitchen mystery, perfectly delicious for fans of Mia P. Manansala.

Fall festivities are underway in Coral Shores, Miami. Cuban-American cooking show star Miriam Quiñones-Smith wakes up to find a corpse in her front yard. The body by the fake tombstone is the woman that was kicked out of the school's Fall Festival the day before.
 
Miriam's luck does not improve. Her passive-aggressive mother-in-law puts her in charge of the Women's Club annual gala. But this year, it's not canapes and waltzes. Miriam and her girlfriends-squad opt for fun and flavor. They want to spice it up with Caribbean food trucks and a calypso band. While making plans at the country club, they hear a volatile argument between the new head chef and the club's manager. Not long after, the chef swan dives to his death at the bottom of the grand staircase.
 
Was it an accident? Or was it Beverly, the sous chef, who is furious after being passed over for the job? Or maybe it was his ex-girlfriend, Anastasia? 
 
Add two possible poisonings to the mix and Miriam is worried the food truck fun is going to be a major crash. As the clock ticks down and the body count goes up, Miriam's life is put in jeopardy. Will she connect the dots or die in the deep freeze? Foodies and mystery lovers alike will savor the denouement as the truth is laid bare in this simmering stew of rage, retribution, and murder.

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"Raquel V. Reyes has found the right recipe for an engrossing, light mystery that blends Cuban-American culture, a love of food and appealing characters."
--South Florida Sun Sentinel

"Crime and cuisine really do mix."
--Kirkus Reviews

"Original, carefully crafted, and with a genuine flair for the kind of narrative storytelling style that fully engages the rapt attention of the reader from start to finish."
--Midwest Book Review

Barbacoa, Bomba, and Betrayal
In the third installment of the Caribbean Kitchen mysteries, for fans of Mia P. Manansala , Miriam Quiñones, cooking show sensation and amateur sleuth, has sand between her toes and a murderer nipping at her heels.

A surprise trip to Miriam's parents in Punta Cana, which should be filled with arroz con pollo and breezy days under the tamarind tree, quickly becomes a hunt for a possible property saboteur. But before Miriam can begin to uncover the person damaging the vacation rentals her parents manage, she’s called away to Puerto Rico to film a Three Kings Day special. She's welcomed to the blue ballast stone streets of Old San Juan by crime scene tape, and things only get worse from there.

An anonymous personal gift on Miriam's doorstep New Year's Eve screams stalker, and the 400-year-old guesthouse creaks and moans like there is something trapped in its walls. Luckily, her BFF, Alma, and their mutual friend Jorge are in town to keep her distracted between filming cultural segments for the network. But private chef tables and spa days come to an abrupt halt when Jorge's telenovela heartthrob novio goes missing. And there is something worrisome about Alma's too-perfect boyfriend--specifically, his duffle bag full of cash.

Will demon masks, African drum beats, and dark alleys lead to Miriam's demise? Or will the mysterious events come together like the delicious layers of a pastelón?

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"Barbacoa, Bomba, and Betrayal features a determined heroine . . . I'll be back for another helping."
--Fresh Fiction

"A culinary series that readers are craving, drawn in by Reyes' brisk plots and appealing characters."
--South Florida Sun Sentinel

Dominoes, Danzón, and Death
Latina sleuth and culinary master Miriam Quiñones-Smith is cooking up a storm in the fourth installment of the Caribbean Kitchen mystery series.

It's been three years since food anthropologist and cooking show star Miriam Quiñones-Smith had her last brush with death. Her Spanglish culinary show, Abuela Approved, is topping the charts. Her parents are back in Miami and living with her in Coral Shores. And her kids are great. But when bones start popping up in unexpected places, Miriam's idyllic life is threatened.

Her husband, Robert's much-delayed hotel project screeches to a halt when human bones are unearthed. Tribal representatives, forensic archaeologists, and a pompous professor rain down on the possibly ancient site. Then a fake skeleton with the name 'Smith' etched into it is found floating in the bay with an ominous note. Is it a threat to Miriam's husband or her in-laws? And when Miriam's boss Delvis is seen going off on a tour guide who marched through the crew-only area on set and is later found dead, Delvis is declared the main suspect.

To protect her family and friends, Miriam must dig up the truth that has been hiding in plain sight.

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