Havana Black: A Lieutenant Mario Conde Mystery (Mario Conde Investigates) - Softcover

Padura, Leonardo

Softcover

ISBN 10: 190473815X ISBN 13: 9781904738152

Publisher: Bitter Lemon Press, 2006

Synopsis

Praise for Havana Red, the first of the Lt. Conde series:

“Another winner from Bitter Lemon...an innovative take on the traditional detective story. A macho cop whose investigation into the murder of a transvestite leads him to ruminate on his own attraction to this ‘philosophy of mimetics and erasure.’"—The New York Times

“A scorching novel from a star of Cuban fiction. Conde’s quest follows the basic rhythm of the whodunit, but Padura syncopates it with brilliant literary riffs on Cuban sex, society, religion, even food.”—Independent

The brutally mutilated body of Miguel Forcade is discovered washed up on a Havana beach. Head smashed in by a baseball bat, genitals cut off by a dull knife. Forcade was once responsible for the confiscation of art works from the bourgeoisie fleeing the revolution. Had he really returned from exile just to visit his ailing father?

The novel evokes the disillusion of a generation, many of them veterans of the war in Angola, discovering the corruption of those who preceded them. Yet it is a eulogy of Cuba, its life of music, sex and the great friendships of the people who elected to stay and fight for survival.

Leonardo Padura was born in 1955 in Havana and lives in Cuba. He is a prize-winning novelist, essayist, journalist, and scriptwriter.

About this title

About the Author:

Leonardo Padura was born in 1955 in Havana. He is a prize winning novelist, essayist, journalist and scriptwriter. International fame came with the publication of the Havana Quartet, all featuring Lieutenant Mario Conde, of which Havana Black is the second to be available in English.The Quartet has been translated into seven languages and has won numerous prizes including Spain's Hammett Prize. Critically acclaimed translator known for extensive work on Juan Goytisolo. Also translated Daniel Chavarria and Pedro de Alarcon from Cuba.

Leonardo Padura has just won the 2015 Princess of Asturias Literary prize for his life’s work. This prize is said to be the Spanish Nobel Prize. Previous winners include Philip Roth, John Banville, Margaret Atwood, Amin Maalouf and Ismail Kadare. Padura is most famous for his Inspector Mario Conde novels, all published in English by Bitter Lemon Press.

From Booklist:

In the third Mario "the Count" Conde mystery to appear in English (after Adios, Hemingway and Havana Red, both 2005), Miguel Forcade is found washed ashore, having been dispatched with a baseball bat and emasculated with a dull kitchen knife. Coaxed from intended retirement to uncover what might have tempted the presumably corrupt diplomat and defector to return to his native Cuba, Inspector Conde finds no shortage of Maltese falcons hidden away amidst seedy squalor during the revolution. Padura's world is both as unknowable as lost love and as simple as a stray dog, and his prose is given to lush and loquacious ruminations rife with doom and duende somewhat reminiscent of Paco Ignacio Taibo's more contemplative side. While perhaps not as accessible as L. A. Garcia-Roza or Arnaldo Correa, this series is drenched with that beguiling otherness so appealing to the many fans of mysteries from other cultures, and may also please those who appreciate the sultry lyricism of James Lee Burke. For most libraries. David Wright
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About this edition

• Publisher: Bitter Lemon Press
• Publication date: 2006
• ISBN 10: 190473815X
• ISBN 13: 9781904738152
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 261