Murder in Havana (Capital Crimes)
by By Truman, Margaret
Category: Fiction , Mystery & Detective , General

Max Pauling, ex-CIA, ex-State Department, has taken early retirement to become a flight instructor in New Mexico. A colleague, also "retired," shows up, offering a contract to fly medical supplies into Havana. This revs up Pauling's engines in several senses. Despite the misgivings of Jessica, his live-in lover, he takes the deal. After flying a roundabout route that takes him through Mexico, Miami, and Colombia, he lands in Havana, waiting for a contact who will "help him with his Spanish."The first sight of her is both breathtaking - she is a beauty - and frustrating: She wants to move at her own pace. Max is a man of action, and waiting for the action to begin does nothing for his mood or blood pressure. The covert reason for their collaboration is to uncover the truth about an intense competition between rival U.S. pharmaceutical companies for access to Cuba's surprisingly high-quality anti-cancer research.Meanwhile, a former U.S. senator is leading a mission to Cuba to discuss the possibility of lessening tensions between the two countries, looking to ease America's controversial commercial embargo. And perhaps he has another mission, as well....