You can tell that Randy Wayne White enjoys what he’s doing. He explores some of the nation’s most exotic square mileage, tossing in a mystery or two just to keep your reading pleasure humming along. Doc Ford, a marine biologist, is paired with Tomlinson, his somewhat unlikely friend whose la-la land-like tendencies and ozone demeanor are counterbalanced by a fierce loyalty.

White’s writing in recent years has taken on the trappings of an acquired taste, given that he is more often than not easing slowly into his story while saving the major crash-bang for the middle and ending. That’s fine, particularly in the case of his newest offering. The knowledge that Cuba is less than 90 miles away from the coast of Florida was drummed into those of us who grew up in the early 1960s. It is thus inevitable that an installment of the Doc Ford canon would eventually feature its name. As one can tell by the title, CUBA STRAITS does so and quite well.

"[A]nyone with an interest in or, yes, obsession with mid-20th-century United States history will enjoy this foray through Sanibel Island and behind the veil of secrecy that still prevails to this day."

Juan Garcia, a friend of Ford’s, is smuggling Cuban baseball players into the United States and dealing in “high profile collectibles” (HPCs), buying low and selling high. Every once in a while, a collector of such things comes across an item, or set of items, that takes his or her breath away, and Garcia is left gasping when he finds himself in the possession of a series of letters written during the decade between 1953 and 1963 by “Fidelito,” as in Castro, to a lady friend who is not exactly common knowledge. This is quite a find, of course, and while it’s one that Garcia might have wished for, he soon discovers, as stated in another context, that having is not always the same as wanting.

Things start going south for Garcia very quickly. Disappearances occur. One is a baseball player who has been behaving erratically, while another is Castro’s briefcase. Garcia goes to Ford for help, sensing that he is in deep and dangerous water that is leagues over his head. Ford, as has been demonstrated repeatedly in past novels, is one of those guys who is very capable of jumping from Point A to Point C. While not always right, he is spot-on in this case. All sorts of things occurred between 1961 and 1963 that remain in question some 50 years later, and the letters may contain the answers to what transpired. A number of people lost their lives to preserve in silence the answers to those questions. A half-century later, more may die yet, but not if Ford can help it.

CUBA STRAITS is one of White’s better novels of late. It certainly has the ring of truth to it --- so much so that one might be forgiven for questioning if it is entirely a work of fiction --- and one doesn’t have to agree with White’s/Ford’s conclusions to enjoy the steps that creator and creation take to arriving at or near them. Those of a certain age might find the subject matter more interesting than younger readers, but anyone with an interest in or, yes, obsession with mid-20th-century United States history will enjoy this foray through Sanibel Island and behind the veil of secrecy that still prevails to this day.