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.

Featured Titles...
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.
★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
★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
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.