Havana Gold: The Havana Quartet (Mario Conde Investigates) Paperback – June 1, 2008

Leonardo Padura is an excellent writer who writes contemporary noir novels with a backdrop of modern day Cuba which is a very complicated and interesting country the characters in his novels are so easy to love

These are way way way worth reading. It's easy to dream up a plot outline for a murder mystery. But to ground it in believable characters and real landscape is art. Padura Fuentes is as good for Havana as Burdett is for Bangkok and Mankell is for Ystad. Disparage these books as "just mysteries" if you want. Your loss.

I was disappointed in this book. I read a biography of Padura prior to reading this book and I had high hopes. The book had flashes of greatness but it was very uneven in terms of plot and character development. I found the main character boring at times. I'll skip his other books.

Police Lieutenant Mario Condo, who wants to be a writer rather than a policeman, seems to be writing Havana quartet while in the throes of an investigation. It's to be "a chronicle of love, hatred, happiness and frustration." Havana Gold certainly qualifies as that.The case Mario's working on in this book is challenging. A young woman chemistry teacher at Mario's old high school is found beaten, twice raped and strangled in her apartment. Drugs are in evidence. Yet she was a member of the Communist Youth, an exemplary cadre with a pristine ideological record.The book is rich in poetic passages on the decaying beauty of Havana. And as in other books, Mario wallows in nostalgia for his innocent or not-so-innocent high school days. His friends are still the same guys he hung out with in high school. Mario has a real talent for friendship, but he's not lucky in love.He's desperately in love in this book, and the reader is treated to some exuberant scenes of steamy coupling with bizarre embellishments. Leonardo Padura excels at such scenes. They do strike me as being a bit of a male fantasy, which is okay too.As the investigation unfolds, Mario exhibits an excess of machismo and immaturity; a total lack of restraint in the consumption of rum; and an unrealistic attitude towards women. But this is his odd charm as an investigator.Mario often proclaims he wants to write something someday that's "squalid and moving." That perfectly describes the Havana Quartet.

Enjoyable read. The who dun nit versus the main characters personal situation give the book richness and depth.

I've read the entire series and I would have to say Havana Gold is the best of the group. The case that Lt. Conde is handed takes him back to his old high school to investigate the murder of a young, popular teacher who may not be exactly what she seemed in the classroom, while in his personal life he becomes entangled (literally) with a woman who's as mysterious as she is passionate. To complete the story, stir in some bad blood with another detective and the copious amount of rum that The Count uses as a self-prescribed anesthetic in order to cope with his job and life.While Havana Gold is the fourth book released in the series, in Padura's chronology it's the second story. Each book is set in each season of the year 1989; Blue, winter; Gold, spring; Red, summer; Black, autumn. While each book stands on it's own and it's not necessary to read them in any particular order, Padura does make backward references, so you might want to take that into consideration.Lastly, Padura is not an "easy read"; his prose can sometimes get ponderous, especially during Conde's introspective periods, which are frequent. But it also flows, such as in Havana Red where the author describes each one of a number of individuals at a party in way that makes you feel you're actually there scanning the room, all in one sentence that encompasses an entire page. Also beware of sudden changes of tense and person that'll leave you wondering, "Where did this come from?". Don't worry, it'll become obvious as you read on.Hope this helps.

I have spent a fair amount of time in Cuba and with Cubans over the past decades. Paduro's main character, Mario Conde, embodies so many of the contradictory, joyful, hopeful and critical faculties that one will find in conversations with folks in Havana and with some in the expat community. Put this into some well-plotted mystery stories, and you have a series of delightful books.

Evocative

A wonderful way to explore Cuba....from a writer who has travelled widely but never left his Cuban home.

Read this before you go to Cuba to find out where you are going or read it when youreturn to find out where you've been. Padura is an amazing writer, brave, honest, andhis style, brilliantly translated flows off the page. And, it's a hell of good story.

The essence and flavour of the poverty in everyday life in Havana are brought to life in this marvellous book.The storytelling is both credible and enthralling, and the characters are well rounded and believable.I could almost taste and smell the flavours of Josefina's cooking, and the pain of Conde's early morning hangovers are all too believable.Buy it!

As described

mystery, social critique, humour, and Cuba, wrapped in great writing ( and translation)..what more do you want.