The Novel Detective: A Detective Novel by Dovalpage, Teresa
The Novel Detective: A Detective Novel by Dovalpage, Teresa

The Novel Detective: A Detective Novel

A twisty, genre-bending metafictional mystery set in Cuba past and present about a writer returning to her...
$34.74 USD
$34.74 USD
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Author: Teresa Dovalpage
Format: Hardcover
Language: English
Subtotal: $34.74
The Novel Detective: A Detective Novel by Dovalpage, Teresa

The Novel Detective: A Detective Novel

$34.74
The Novel Detective: A Detective Novel by Dovalpage, Teresa

The Novel Detective: A Detective Novel

$34.74
Author: Teresa Dovalpage
Format: Hardcover
Language: English
Description
A twisty, genre-bending metafictional mystery set in Cuba past and present about a writer returning to her long-lost hometown to seek the buried truth about two suspicious deaths at her Havana high school, perfect for fans of Chanel Cleeton and Jean Hanff Korelitz

2020: Teresa, a Cuban-born mystery writer now living in America, gets an unexpected call from her childhood best friend, Estrella, inviting her to Havana. Estrella is determined to get answers about a case that has haunted them both for decades: the purported dual suicides of a teacher and student at their high school. Though Teresa doesn't quite understand why Estrella is taking the story so personally, she's along for the ride--as she always wanted to write a novel about this case.

1980: Fourteen-year-old Teresita, bespectacled, awkward and mystery novel-obsessed, is "nosy, but not a tattletale." She knows who's been skimming off the top of the amphetamine stash in her mother's pharmacy, which teacher keeps cyanide in his cabinet at school and that their classmate Yoyi is sleeping with their English teacher. Over the course of one fateful day, Teresita gets closer than ever to learning the "Truth of Life"--her catchall term for the intricacies of adult existence--even if it means coming face to face with death.

Drawing upon the tradition of Latin American magical realism and directly inspired by the author's own childhood in Cuba and adult life in the United States, this resonant tale is at once personal and universal, full of nostalgia, candor and danger.

Author: Teresa Dovalpage
Publisher: Soho Crime
Published: 07/14/2026
Pages: 304
Binding Type: Hardcover
Weight: 1.00lbs
Size: 8.30h x 5.50w x 1.00d
ISBN: 9781641298285


Review Citation(s):
Library Journal 05/01/2026 pg. 100
Publishers Weekly 05/04/2026
Kirkus Reviews 07/01/2026
Booklist 06/01/2026

About the Author
Writer, translator and college professor Teresa Dovalpage is a Cuban transplant firmly rooted in New Mexico. She is the author of three short story collections, four plays and fourteen novels--including the Havana Mystery series. She lives with her husband, one dog and too many barn cats.
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