Willie Cuesta wears tropical shirts, cool linen slacks, and Mexican sandals to ward off the Florida heat. Formerly a Miami Police Department detective, he now works as chief of security at his brother’s salsa club while he waits for new clients at his detective agency in Little Havana.
After meeting Fiona Bonaventura, Willie quickly realizes that her predicament isn’t a straight forward missing-persons case. The elegant Argentinean is convinced that she has found her dead sister’s daughter. Her sister Sonia disappeared during Argentina’s “dirty war” more than twenty years ago, but her pregnant body was never found. Fiona has never stopped searching for her sister’s child, and several times has been steps away from finding the girl she is convinced is her niece. This time she has tracked the girl to Miami, and Fiona is determined not to lose her again.
As Willie delves into the case, a host of shady characters surface with ties to the Argentinean military dictatorship responsible for the death and disappearance of thousands of citizens: Sarah Ingram, who teaches tango in a dance studio in a quiet, suburban neighborhood; her polo-playing husband who makes it clear he won’t tolerate questions about his intelligence work in Argentina years ago; a terrified man who survived torture and imprisonment during the “dirty war” and may be able to identify some of his torturers if he can set his fear aside; and even an Argentine diplomat.
When people associated with the case start turning up dead and Willie finds himself held captive in the back of an SUV, he knows for sure that death squads from another time and place have arrived in Miami. As the vehicle careens through the pre-dawn streets of Miami, Willie Cuesta must hang on desperately as his latest case spirals out of control.
Click here to listen to an interview with John Lantigua about his book The Lady from Buenos Aires: A Willie Cuesta Mystery.
2021, Nominee – Private Eye Writers of America Shamus Awards Nominee in the Best Original Private Eye Paperback category, on Remember My Face
2012, Winner – International Latino Book Award for Best Mystery Novel-English, for On Hallowed Ground
2008, Honorable Mention – Mystery Foreword Magazine’s Book of the Year Award, for The Lady from Buenos Aires: A Willie Cuesta Mystery
2008, Winner – International Latino Book Award for Best Mystery Novel-English, for The Lady from Buenos Aires: A Willie Cuesta Mystery
“Miami private eye Willie Cuesta is sent to central Florida to track down a missing person. Maybe persons. A heartfelt account of the risks Latinos face in modern America whether or not they’re undocumented.”—Kirkus Reviews on Remember My Face
“The rich and varied characters in this intriguingly twisty tale spring organically from the sandy soil of South Florida. This intelligent, timely novel is sure to win Lantigua new fans.”—Publishers Weekly on Remember My Face
“Cuesta, introduced in 1999’s Player’s Vendetta, is a noirish kind of chap, and the novel is appropriately atmospheric, with a large cast of villainous types and a beautiful client who may not be entirely what she seems. Readers familiar with the Cuesta series will note that, with this novel, the author is tackling a theme of greater sociohistorical importance than previously; but even though the story centers on a politically volatile period in recent history, Lantigua never forgets he’s writing a mystery, not a polemic.”—Booklist on The Lady from Buenos Aires
“This thoroughly entertaining crime novel flirts with a number of the genre’s central themes— kidnapping for ransom, drug dealing, betrayal, revenge, the silky seductiveness of a whole lot of money—filtering them through the special sensibility of Miami PI Willie Cuesta. A real find for crime-fiction fans.”—Booklist starred review of On Hallowed Ground
JOHN LANTIGUA is an award-winning journalist and novelist. His novels include On Hallowed Ground (Arte Público, 2011), The Lady from Buenos Aires (Arte Público Press, 2007), The Ultimate Havana (Signet, 2001), Player’s Vendetta (Signet, 1999), Twister (Simon and Schuster, 1992), and Burn Season (Putnam, 1989). His first novel, Heat Lightning (Putnam, 1987), was a finalist for the Edgar Awards Best First Novel. He is the recipient of numerous awards for his journalistic writings, including two Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Awards (2004, 2006) and the Pulitzer Prize for Investigative Reporting (1999). He lives and works in South Florida.
