Havana Gold: The Havana Quartet

✍ Scribed by Padura, Leonardo

• Book ID: 109197636
• Publisher: Bitter Lemon Press
• Year: 2001
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 205 KB
• Series: Inspector Mario Conde 4
• Category: Fiction
• ISBN-13: 9781904738886

✦ Synopsis

Praise for the Havana Quartet :

“ Havana Red , another winner from Bitter Lemon Press.”— The New York Times

“Overlaid with a rich smoky patina, an atmosphere that reeks of slums and riches, cigar smoke and exotic perfumes.”— The Independent

“Talk about unexpected discoveries, the Havana Quartet is a revelation. With a nod to Key Largo and a virtual bow to The Maltese Falcon , these novels are ultimately about the redemptive nature of undying friendship and the potentially destructive nature of undying love.”— The Atlantic Monthly

“Drenched with that beguiling otherness so appealing to fans of mysteries of other cultures, it will also appeal to those who appreciate the sultry lyricism of James Lee Burke.”— Booklist

The fourth title of the prize-winning Havana Quartet.

Twenty-four-year-old Lissette Delgado was beaten, raped, and then strangled with a towel. Marijuana is found in her apartment and her wardrobe is suspiciously beyond the means of a high school teacher. Lieutenant Conde is pressured by “the highest authority” to conclude this investigation quickly when chance leads him into the arms of a beautiful redhead, a saxophone player who shares his love for jazz and fighting fi sh.

This is a Havana of crumbling, grand buildings, secrets hidden behind faded doors, and corruption. For an author living in Cuba, Leonardo Padura is remarkably outspoken about the failings of Fidel Castro’s regime. Yet this is a eulogy of Cuba, its life of music, sex, and the great friendships of those who elected to stay and fight for survival.

**

From Publishers Weekly

Mario Conde, Padura's tormented Cuban police detective, is at his anguished best in this sequentially second volume of the so-called Havana Quartet, which constitutes a four-season chronicle of one year (1989) in Conde's life, though it's the last of the four to be available in English translation. The hard-drinking, romantic Conde, who's wanted to become a writer but ended up as a policeman in a corrupt and struggling land, constantly questions his fate as he investigates the murder of young, good-looking school teacher, Lissette Núñez Delgado, who taught at Pre-University High School, the same school Conde attended in his youth. Conde's return to his old school triggers nostalgia and regrets as he interviews the headmaster, students and fellow teachers. The original title, Vientos de Cuaresma (The Winds of Lent), captures the extensive wind imagery that Padura skillfully uses to capture Conde's state of mind. (June 30)
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Review

Praise for the Havana Quartet:"Overlaid with a rich smoky patina, an atmosphere that reeks of slums and riches, cigar smoke and exotic perfumes. Havana Black is a strong tasting book, a rich feast of wit and feeling." Independent"Drenched with that beguiling otherness so appealing to fans of mysteries of other cultures, Havana Blue will also appeal to those who appreciate the sultry lyricism of James Lee Burke. " Booklist"...a magnificent Dickensian evocation of the city's street hassle; it takes in drugdealers, hookers, people queuing for pizza, newly-weds, the hotels and baseball fans, and captures the enthralling gloom of dimly lit, apocalyptic early-evening Havana.' Times Literary Supplement"A great plot, perfectly executed with huge atmosphere. In Havana Black you can almost smell the cigar smoke, rum and cheap women." Daily Mirror"Conde's quest follows the basic rhythm of the whodunit, but Padura syncopates Havana Red with brilliant riffs on Cuban sex, society, religion, even food." Independent