Food anthropologist and cooking show star Miriam Quinones-Smith is back in a delicious new installment of the Caribbean Kitchen cozy mystery series.

Miriam’s life is busier and better than ever. She and her husband, Robert, are raising two young children while sharing a home with her parents in Miami. Miriam’s so-called “Spanglish cooking show,” Abuela Approved, is thriving. And she hasn’t had to solve a murder in three years. But Miriam’s sleuthing-free streak comes to an end when her boss, Delvis, is declared a suspect in a murder that happened moments after filming the show. Then, a body is discovered at the site of Robert’s latest construction project, leading to serious disagreements between archeologists, academics and local tribal representatives. Plus, Miriam’s snobby mother-in-law recruits her to investigate a series of threatening notes sent to their family. There’s nothing Miriam takes more seriously than protecting her loved ones, so she dives into investigating the multiple mysteries.

Author Raquel V. Reyes sets the fun, fast-paced Dominoes, Danzón, and Death three years after the last book in the series (Barbacoa, Bomba, and Betrayal), allowing Miriam and her family to grow and change. Readers need not be familiar with the previous mysteries to enjoy this one, but fans of the series will enjoy seeing the characters flourish in new roles.

Miriam is a delightful character: She’s intelligent, hardworking and dedicated to her family. Between raising two young children in a bustling, intergenerational household and hosting her popular show, Miriam is a busy woman. Still, she manages to solve three mysteries with her quick thinking and determination. Reyes excels at balancing her many storylines in an engaging manner; the multiple mysteries are never overwhelming.

The novel is elevated by its engagement with Caribbean cuisine and culture, and Florida and Native American history, while Spanish speakers will appreciate how Miriam and her family communicate in an authentic blend of Spanish and English. Those who aren’t familiar with Spanish need not worry: Reyes skillfully provides context and translations for their conversations. No matter your background, there’s a lot to learn from Dominoes, Danzón, and Death—and a lot to love.

Relying on my high school Spanish of six decades ago, the book provided me with both an interesting and compelling story with fascinating characters. , It also provided a challenge to try and translate all the Spanish text so I could continue with the story. After a rather shaky start, I got pretty good but even if I had not, I don’t think only Spanish speakers need pick up the book but it will be an easier read if you do understand the language.

Miriam and her husband have a rich and full life together despite the fact that she does not fit the mold his snobby society mother would like. In fact, the best you can say about the mother in law is she often uses passive aggression in all the snipes Miriam has suffered. The three generational household Miriam and her husband share with two children and her parents is a delight. She will require their assistance when she tries to help the authorities figure out who is threatening his parents and what happened to the fellow whose bones have been uncovered in a dig on a golf course. Rather than try to describe how this and the murder of another woman fit together, it is better to get it fresh from the book.

It all comes together in a very neat package where respect is important as is integrity. Four purrs and two paws up.

I really enjoyed this story, especially the deeper insight into Miriam’s work and family life. The mystery revolves around the discovery of bones during a construction project led by Miriam’s husband, along with a suspicious death where her producer becomes a key suspect. It’s an engaging cozy mystery that beautifully combines food and family dynamics. While each book in the series builds upon the last, you can certainly enjoy this one as a standalone, though reading them in order would enhance the experience.

Thank you to NetGalley and Crooked Lane books for an advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

Book Review: Dominoes, Danzón, and Death" by Raquel V. Reyes

Rating: 2.5 Stars

When I picked up "Dominoes, Danzón, and Death" by Raquel V. Reyes, I was immediately drawn in by its delightful cover—it's colorful and definitely eye-catching. This fourth installment in the Caribbean Kitchen mystery series follows the culinary adventures of Latina sleuth Miriam Quiñones-Smith. Miriam is not just a food anthropologist but also the star of a hit Spanglish culinary show called "Abuela Approved." Life seems pretty sweet for her in Miami until a series of macabre discoveries throws everything into chaos.

The plot kicks off when human bones surface at her husband Robert’s hotel construction site, bringing a slew of experts and a pompous academic into the fray. As if that weren't enough, a fake skeleton with "Smith" etched into it appears in the bay, leaving Miriam to wonder if it's an ominous message directed at her family. Things take another dark turn when Delvis, Miriam's boss, gets embroiled in a murder investigation after a heated confrontation with a tour guide who later turns up dead. With her loved ones at risk, Miriam is on a mission to unearth the truth.

Now, here’s where my experience starts to waver. I really enjoyed the first book in this series—it had a great balance of mystery and cultural flair. However, my enthusiasm dwindled with book two, and unfortunately, I had similar feelings about this one. While the culinary descriptions are as mouth watering as ever (seriously, don't read this on an empty stomach), and the recipes at the end are a nice touch for food enthusiasts, the frequent use of Spanish without translation became a stumbling block for me.

In the first book, some Spanish with English translations was charming and added authenticity. But in this installment, whole paragraphs in Spanish left me more confused than captivated. If you’re fluent or enjoy piecing together languages, you might not find this an issue. For me, though, it interrupted the flow of an otherwise intriguing mystery.

In conclusion, "Dominoes, Danzón, and Death" might be a hit for those who relish cultural immersion and culinary delights. But if language barriers frustrate you as they did me, you might find yourself struggling to stay engaged with the narrative. So while it wasn’t my favorite in the series, it still has its merits for the right audience. 2.5 stars from me.

⚠️This review was written based on personal opinions and experiences with the book. Individual preferences may vary⚠️

How does this series keep getting better? I am loving seeing Miriam grow and become more confident in her sleuthing. As always the food and culture are so well done in this series. The love for Caribbean food and culture is clearly there. The mystery took a bit of a back seat for me but that might just be me and how invested I am in Miriam and her establishing her presence in the elite world of her in-laws without loosing dight of who she is and what she values.

I read an advance reader's copy that I received for free via NetGalley.

Bones were turning up everywhere, and Miriam couldn’t help getting involved in their trail, even though her hands were filled with her kids and her TV cooking show. She also managed to get entwined in the murder mystery of the tour guide. It was intriguing and entertaining.

Love this series and this is another excellent addition: well plotted, solid mystery, likeable and fleshed out characters
The solid mystery, full of twists, kept me hooked and guessing.
I thoroughly enjoyed it
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher for this ARC, all opinions are mine

4.25⭐
Such an enjoyable series! And a fascinating immersion into Caribbean cultures with Spanglish, stories of worshipped saints and mouth-watering different foods. With a full cast of intriguing and fully-developed secondary characters. While the perpetrator of main mystery is easily guessed, the resolution of several other minor mysteries will keep you guessing.

A solid continuation of the series. The author chose an authentic way of representing the pandemic in her book, and the mystery is interesting. As always, the food mentions and the anthropological bits of this story were the best parts.

(3.75 stars, rounded up)
The fourth book in the Caribbean Kitchen Mystery series revolves around a discovery of bones at the local country club in Miami, during a construction project. Of course all work stopped so they could be investigated. I found the information about the original native population of south Florida fascinating - just enough information to entice me to read a bit more about them! We also get a lovely introduction to Calle Ocho, the famous “little Havana” neighborhood in Miami. Miriam Quiñones Smith is still doing her “Abuela Approved” tv segments, focusing on Caribbean specialties and one segment is filmed in that area. There is a tour guide (a pretty obnoxious one) who has been murdered at a historic art deco movie theater in that neighborhood. On top of all this, Robert’s father is a judge and is getting threatening notes. Are these things connected in any way?

Miriam gets involved in the investigations because her boss Delvis is a suspect in the tour guide’s murder, and Miriam’s husband Robert is the one in charge of the golf course project. Her background in anthropology (especially foodways) also comes in handy here. Miriam’s parents have moved in with her and her husband, and help with the two children, but it makes for a very busy household!

I appreciated that we got to see a little bit of a softer side to Miriam’s snooty mother-in-law in this story. I’m hoping for further thawing of that relationship in future volumes.

As aways, there’s lots of talk about and descriptions of food, so don’t be surprised if you get hungry while reading this! If you enjoy reading about the various ethnic foods, don’t miss the recipes at the end of the book.

Miriam once again really tried NOT to act as an amateur sleuth. I love her relationship with the local detective, Pullman. He teasingly refers to her as either Veronica (i.e., Veronica Mars) or Jessica (i.e., Jessica Fletcher) or Velma (as in Scooby Doo).

Warning: there is a lot of Spanish sprinkled throughout this book. Even if you know absolutely no Spanish, you will mostly get the meaning through context. Some of it is directly translated (i.e., repeated, but in English), but some of it is not. I listened to the audiobook version for the most part and Frankie Corzo did a beautiful job with all the voices and accents, but unfortunately for this English speaker with a smattering of Spanish, the Spanish was unintelligible to me, so I had to get the meaning by context or by the English translation which frequently followed. At least when reading, I could more easily make out the Spanish words and understand a lot of them, but on the audio, I missed a lot of the actual Spanish words.

While this is the fourth book in the Caribbean Kitchen Mystery series, I think it would work as a standalone. The author provides enough backstory information for new readers.

Thank you to NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books for the opportunity to read an advance readers copy of this book and to Dreamscape Media for the opportunity to listen to an advance copy of the audiobook. All opinions are my own.

"It has been one thousand one hundred twenty-nine days since my last brush with death and crime. It wasn't like I was counting. Truthfully, I rarely thought about it. I'd been too busy with life." Thus, begins the latest Miriam Quiñones-Smith installment of the Caribbean Kitchen Mystery series. There are multiple storylines in this book.

Human bones are discovered on a hotel building site that is being overseen by Robert, Miriam's husband. Could these bones be of historical significance or could they be more recent? A fake skeleton is found floating in the bay with the name Smith on it along with a note. Could this be directed at Robert or his parents? Delvis, Miriam's boss, is considered a suspect in the death of a tour guide, who she was seen arguing with. Are any of these crimes connected? Miriam definitely has alot to uncover.

The book is enjoyable. We get a taste of Caribbean culture and the author includes recipes. Miriam's family is loving and supportive. The main characters are well developed. This is the fourth book in the series and can be read as a stand-alone, but I recommend starting with the first, Mango, Mambo, and Murder, (which is my favorite in the series). I think these books would make a great TV series!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher, Crooked Lane Books, for an ARC. The review is my own.

"Dominoes, Danzón, and Death (A Caribbean Kitchen Mystery #4)" by Raquel V. Reyes is best read on your own or waiting for the official audiobook. Don't let your virtual assistant/text to speech software read it to you. Well, unless you have it set to read Spanish. I understood it just fine but, man, were the pronunciations funny sometimes. I do enjoy these because my level of Spanish fluency is Spanglish and comprehension more than spoken. So, these really help me pick up my personal comprehension speed.

The mystery, well mysteries, of this one had a bit less direct investigation from Miriam. She really embraced the spiritual side of her heritage and had things either fall in her lap or work out that she was in the right place at the right time. In the end the cold case wrapped up about how I expected too. I really wasn't sure who to think of with the other two cases. They were quite a bit more of a side story line.

I also have to add, thank you for have less of the craziness from Miriam's mother-in-law. It got to be too much in past books. She seemed to be just right in this one. I'm also glad that Miriam's husband seems to finally be seeing his mother the way Miriam does.

This is the 4th book in the food-centric A Caribbean Kitchen Mystery cozy mystery series featuring Dr Miriam Quinones-Smith, a food anthropologist with her own cooking show and her family and friends. It is a super fun series and this is the 2nd best book so far after the debut, in my opinion.

Miriam is smart, kind, and tough. The mystery in this one was pretty good though the killer was a bit obvious but I for one don’t read cozy mysteries to really stretch my brain but for the great characters and a decent story and this book definitely did that for me. I do think reading a series in order is needed to fully understand the backstory but you could read this without the others and not miss out on too much.

I greatly enjoy this series and will absolutely read book #5.


**Thanks to the author and publisher for my e-arc I received via NetGalley in exchange for my honest opinion.**

A exciting fourth release in this fun Caribbean theme foodie series. Thank you to Net Galley and to the publisher for the opportunity. My review opinons are my own. This series is a feast for the senses with the wonderful food and the culture of Florida Caribbean style life. The protagnist has a popular cooking show in Spanish and is seeing great success. When her husband starts a building project and bones are found that are suspicious Miriam is on the case with her talent for finding clues. When threats are received she is more determined to protect her family and find out the suspects.

This is a fun series that every foodie will love. The author has perfectly combined her love of food with a Caribbean flair. The Florida setting is fun to read and the supporting characters a delight. Well done to the author.

Thank you to Net Galley and the publisher for the opportunity. My review opinion is my own.

Fourth in the series and I have not read the earlier ones. I did not find this a problem in following the characters or the plot of this book.

Miriam is a food anthropologist and star of a cooking show. The story takes place in Coral Shores, Miami and much is made of the Latina culture and language. Spanglish was a new word to me and it was fun at first to read so many Spanish words in the text but I did get tired of it in the end, and found out it took me out of the narrative.

The mystery developed very slowly and it was not until 75% of the way through the book that I really became involved and started to properly enjoy it. Then the ending was rather weak. I can see how lots of people will enjoy this series but it is not really for me.

This was a fun book to read. I like Ms. Reyes' books because I can practice my Spanish. I admit though I get frustrated when everything does not translate. I had to ask a coworker to translate one specific sentence for me because even though the accompanying comment made a little sense, I could not completely get the gist of what the prior sentence in Spanish had insinuated. That happens in these books sometimes but usually I can get most of the words.

In this book, Miriam's boss and producer of her TV show, Delvis, is accused of murder after being witnessed having an altercation with the deceased shortly before their death. Miriam does not believe for a second that this is true and sets out to find the murderer. Meanwhile, her squirrely mother-in-law has become a paranoid recluse and is willing to bury the hatchet for a bit with her disapproval of Miriam to help her sus out who is sending threats to MIL and FIL. The first murder takes a bit of a back seat about a third through the book. I did enjoy all the cultural references and history. I do wish there was more of Bernice (you'll have to read to find out who that is!).

Manny is by far my favorite character. You don't have to have read the prior books in the series, but it helps. I liked that all the major players were in this book as lots of cozies seem to be abandoning their core characters for a book or two and I find that disappointing. I also appreciated how easy it was to keep all the characters straight.

This was a super fun culinary cozy I strongly recommend to foodies and cozy aficionados.

My thanks to Kensington Cozies and Netgalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I love this series because you learn some history along with an interesting mystery. This book revolves around a find of bones while Robert is working on a new hotel. Miriam gets caught up in the mix of discovering who murdered a tour guide, what happened to pieces of pottery in the dig hole and why Robert's parents are being threatened. Lots to manage along with three generations in her home and her TV career. Well written and plotted. Although you can figure out who is involved in the dig mystery, the other two mysteries are also solved. Love these characters and enjoy their evolution over the series.
I received an advanced copy of the book in exchange for a review.

This latest in a lively cozy series (totally enjoyable as a standalone) sees Miriam dealing with bones. Bones found at the site where her husband is building and bones which have washed ashore. She's also, as always, dealing with her mother in law (not as much as in the earlier books) but on the positive side, her parents are happily settled. And she's got an actual murder to solve. Reyes might have pushed too much into this one but it's still a good read. Know that there is Spanish-easily understandable from context for non-speakers but there are also translations-which is makes this feel more realistic. It's a good cozy read. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. And- recipes!

This is a great addition to this series! I love that it takes place three years after the last book, so you get a chance to see both of Miriam's kids a little bit older. The way the author weaved in the pandemic was good, too. This one was really fun because instead of focusing on just one mystery, there were three woven throughout, which kept you on your toes and kept the storyline moving at a nice pace. I'll definitely keep reading this series.

Miriam Quiñones-Smith is busy with two young children and her popular Spanglish culinary show, Abuela Approved. Miriam's husband Robert Smith is also busy working on a hotel project near a golf course. Trouble comes when human bones are found on-site. A bunch of experts arrive to examine the site. Miriam’s boss Delvis had argued with a pushy tour guide who wandered through the crew-only area on set. The woman is later found dead in a closed theater and Delvis is considered the main suspect. On top of that, a skeleton with the name 'Smith' etched into it is found floating in the bay with an ominous note. Miriam is worried that the threat is targeting either Robert or her in-laws.

It's a challenge for Miriam to deal with all these issues affecting her work and family in the latest book in the Caribbean Kitchen Mystery series.

I received a digital ARC from Netgalley and Crooked Lane Books. All opinions are my own