Calypso Blue: Book 2: A Len Buonfiglio/St. Pierre Mystery

After the trauma of an event that shook his life in New York, bar-owner Len Buonfiglio leaves the city and his family and finds a home on the much quieter, almost idyllic, small Caribbean island. But Len soon learns that even in a sunny tropical paradise there is no escape from darkness. And when he wakes one morning to learn that a legendary local Calypso performer named Lord Ram is dead, that idyllic life he sought quickly spirals out of control. Though ruled an accident, rumors swirl on the small island that the 95-year-old was actually murdered. But how the world renowned figure died is a touchy subject for island officials. So Len is unofficially enlisted by the superintendent of police, as well as the dead man’s, much younger widow who wants to clear her name surrounding his death. Using his newly acquired and very under the radar investigative skills, Len sets out to help quiet those rumors and learn the truth of what really happened to Lord Ram. But before he can begin to investigate, a man, a ghost from his past who he thought he would never see again, returns to St. Pierre. Maurizio Loffredo, an Italian, was once a good friend of Len’s who also sought refuge on St. Pierre. Maurizio not only fell in love with the island, but also a local woman, Betta Baptiste who he marries. But from pressure from his family in Italy, Maurizio deserts his wife who is pregnant with his child. Though they were friends in the past, Maurizio’s return is bittersweet. Len learns that his former friend has come back not just to reunite with his wife and child. He is in trouble. He owes money, and a few very special bottles of sweet vermouth, to some bad men in Europe. He foolishly thinks by returning to St. Pierre he can hide from these men and resume his life with the wife and child he ran from. The vermouth, Len learns, is worth more than just the money Maurizio owes these men—gangsters. They track Maurizio to St. Pierre and threaten not only Len, but Betta and his young son, Paolo. To clean up Maurizio’s mess and save the man's wife and child, Len does what has to be done…something he never thought he would do, all while also trying to find out the truth about what happened to Lord Ram. Both investigations lead him to unearth family demons and discover some hard truths about himself, his former friend, the island he now calls home, and the man who was a hero to the people of St. Pierre.