Caribbean Fiction

On a hot morning in June, Seychelle raises a wrecked fishing boat from the waters of a Florida swamp, only to make a horrifying discovery. She hadn't meant to get involved, but this time murder found her. The police are calling it a cold case, but when Seychelle learns the victim was Grace, the sister of her mechanic, she cannot turn her back on the sweet teenage girl who went missing months earlier. The search for answers takes Seychelle from an opulent yacht bound to do missionary work in the Caribbean, to a religious commune bordering on the Everglades, to a yacht race in the sunny Abaco Islands.

Louis danced with the Devil for a long time, but on this day, there was going to be a new fiddler. After the shooting, Jesse turned to Raymond and said, "If he'd thrown those bags of lobster that he stole from us, overboard, we never woulda caught him." Ten bags of free lobster at a hundred pounds each was just too much for Louis to throw away. Hell, that's what I'm out here for, he must have thought.

In book two, the stage is set for more shooting over crawfish. The killing sickens Becky and Roland, so they leave crawfishing behind and head north to Martha's Vineyard. Sword-fishing is appealing to Roland, but not the winter weather. The following year, they're back in Florida on their own offshore crawfish boat. Raymond James teams with them in his own offshore boat, and together they set 3,000 traps near Walker's Cay, Bahamas.

Small-town detective/workaholic, Manny Williams, is thrilled with the prospect of finally taking the long-awaited vacation he had promised his wife, Louise. The couple's exotic getaway begins in sunny San Juan, Puerto Rico, by attending the June wedding of a fellow Lansing police officer, followed with an incredible week-long Southern Caribbean cruise on the glamorous Ocean Duchess. Tropical paradise appears to be a perfect recipe for desperately needed R and R... until the first dead body.

"Hace tiempo que no leía algo tan bueno. En pana puede leerse como una autobiografía—porque es la biografía de unos autos—o un ménage à trois entre novela, ensayo y poesía, o una exagerada nota al pie acerca del copiloto como un pequeño dios. Martín Cinzano ha escrito un libro inolvidable, muy divertido, melancólico, vertiginoso e introspectivo: callejero, carretero y carrilero." —Alejandro Zambra

A well-known criminal lawyer is found dead in a back alley in St. Thomas, and Cindy and Mattheus are called in to investigate by the grieving widow. The local police have pinned her for the murder, and Cindy and Mattheus are her last hope in vindication. As Cindy and Mattheus dig deeper into the victim's past, they learn that all was not as rosy as it seemed. They discover mistresses, gambling debts, vendettas, and a number of people who had motivation to want him dead.

In Death by Seduction, Cindy receives a call from an old college friend, Loretta, desperate for help. Loretta and her husband had traveled to the Dominican Republic to buy a vacation condo - and, to her horror, he turned up dead in a brothel. Mattheus, however, refuses to take the case, and Cindy takes a new road, alone, to the Dominican Republic after she and Mattheus suddenly call off their engagement.

Cindy and Mattheus, still reeling from Key West, unsure where their relationship stands, prepare to take some time away from each other - when a shocking call arrives. A beautiful bride is missing on the night before her destination wedding in the magnificent Cayman Islands. The groom, the last one to see her alive during their scuba diving outing, is the prime suspect. But the groom's family insists he is innocent, and they hire Cindy and Mattheus to find out the truth.

Congressman Shapply, a former music insider who now leads the crusade against offensive lyrics in rap songs, is attacked and murdered in front of his Washington, D.C., home. His son Nick is arrested and charged with murder. For veteran music journalist Mick Sever, covering this case is personal. Sever, best friend of the accused killer, believes his friend's claims of innocence.

Tara and Owen Danden, celebrating their 25th wedding anniversary in Jamaica, are on the water, in a boat he rented, when the weather shifts and Tara falls overboard. As Owen tries desperately to save his wife, the boat spins and hits her head - sending her into a coma. Pulled out of the water, barely alive, Tara is airlifted to an elegant hospital on the island, and remains in a coma for two months. When she finally dies, however, there becomes a question of whether she truly died of natural causes.

Cindy and Mattheus part ways, and while he stays in the Caribbean to protect his daughter and her mother, she returns home. Cindy's sister, Ann, meets her at the airport to welcome her back to this new chapter of her life. Cindy starts to settle back in, to meet old friends and make plans to take on a new job - when a shocking call suddenly comes. It is a call Cindy never could have expected in her wildest dreams, a call that rips her world apart. Someone close to her - too close - has been found murdered in Bermuda.

Three years ago, I met a girl, we fell in love, and we got married on the beach in the Florida Keys. Then I went back to my SEAL team and she launched a career designing lingerie (yes, I'm a lucky man). While I fought in the sandbox, she became the star of a reality TV show because her stuff's that good. Hindi's loud and colorful and everything I'm not. She lives for the moment and tying her down would be like forcing a firefly into a jar.

Cindy and Mattheus, finally together, prepare to take time off and live together - when a stunning upset in their relationship tears them apart. Cindy flies home to New York, resigned to never work as a detective - and never see Mattheus - again. And then a shocking phone call comes out of the blue: It is Mattheus. A new body has turned up. Cindy at first refuses - until he tells her who it is: his wife.

I've never met a woman I couldn't love - for one night. I'm the bad boy, the player, the sexy heartbreaker you meet in a bar and take home. And after my last hellish tour of duty as a SEAL, sun, sand, and sex are my new mission in life. Happily ever after? Pass. I'll give you the best 12 hours of your life, and then I'm gone because why settle down when playing the field is so fun? All that changes when I meet Valentina Fuentes.

Before they get engaged, Cindy urges Mattheus to meet his long-lost Caribbean daughter, whom he has never met. Sixteen years ago, after a one-night stand, the woman became pregnant, and Mattheus quickly left. Mattheus' beautiful, volatile 15-year-old daughter, Andrea, badly needs him, and she wants him to come to Anguilla, where she lives, so they can get to know each other. One caveat, though: He has to come without Cindy.

Cindy and Mattheus, finally away together for a much-needed vacation on the beautiful island of Aruba, are awakened by horrible shouts of despair. A guest at the hotel has just discovered his new fiancée dead under their window, sprawled out on the courtyard below, soon after he had proposed. The two had recently met online, had a long-distance Internet relationship, and had met in person only a few times. The entire hotel is terrified and mobilized. Was it suicide, or was it murder?

In Death by Obsession, the next installment in the number-one best-selling Caribbean Murder series, a huge destination wedding, merging two blueblood families, is about to take place in St. Martin, when Cindy and Mattheus get an emergency call from the father of the bride. He wants them to come down to the island immediately and dig up dirt on the groom. He can't shake his bad feeling about the guy, even though all his other investigations didn't turn up a thing.

Against the exotic backdrop of Jamaica and Florida, charismatic rock reporter Mick Sever investigates a reggae band's involvement with the violent deaths of young girls in this gripping mystery of music and murder. Led by their mysterious and captivating singer Derrick Lyman, the band seems ready for their big break. But after their first American concert, a beautiful young girl is murdered.

In Death by Engagement (book 12 of the Caribbean Murder series), Cindy and Mattheus joyously head to Aruba to search for a venue for their destination wedding. Thrilled, they enter the magical, romantic world of wedding planning and along the way meet another recently engaged couple also looking for a place to be wed.

In Death by Temptation, Cindy and Mattheus arrive for a vacation at St. Lucia, a haven for honeymooners and destination weddings - but neither have any idea what destiny has in store. When their friend's daughter goes missing after a swim alone, a frantic search grips the island. Swept up in the horror, Cindy and Mattheus join in. When the dead body of another young woman turns up a few days later at the same beach, Cindy is convinced the cases are connected.