Raul Palma's debut novel A Haunting in Hialeah Gardens introduces Hugo Contreras, who came to the United States from Bolivia as a child and is now a widower in Miami, where he staves off mountains of debt acquired in part from his late wife's cancer treatment bills by earning a meager living as a babaláwo, a priest in the Afro-Cuban religion of Santería — a set of beliefs that he secretly doesn't subscribe to. While faced with celebrating the holidays alone, Hugo receives a life-changing call from Alexi Ramirez, the predatory attorney whose firm has been attempting to collect on his debt. Like others seeking help from Hugo and his boss, Lourdes, Alexi believes that he is being haunted, and he proposes a deal: If Hugo clears his ghosts, he will clear Hugo's debt.

Will Hugo agree to "help" Alexi? Will he be able to do so convincingly? Is the haunting, contrary to Hugo's ...