A slice of the Cuban capital and its beaches in the summer of 2005 told from a revolutionary perspective through the experiences and voices of the characters as they become embroiled in a murder. The incident that sparks That Time in Havana is a people smuggling murder. It is told through four frames of reference that soon intertwine, that of: the divorced Cuban social worker protagonist Laira (Válairia Hernández) and her family, U.S. tourist Bill Richards and two fellow travelers, Cuban reporter Paco Valdes and his family and a few Cubans who often live outside the law, Mongo Perez, Estrella Gonzalez and their familiars.

Laira's detecting assistance is initially requested by her older and over-weaning detective brother Camilo while she is working therapeutically with the bereaved families, but he very soon repents of involving his independent minded sister. She is emotionally supported by her twin physician brother Ladi, her father Juan and her twelve-year-old son Miguel, meanwhile reluctantly meeting her first foreign tourists and becoming entangled in another murder or two.

Aside from the political perspective, the plot and characters will hold your interest, and you'll learn a bit about Cuba.