It strikes me as very risky for a writer to write an historical "whodunnit" featuring an actual infamous figure from the past. This particular person is not exactly a household name, but for someone who (like me) has taken more than one Haunted History tour of New Orleans, it probably won't take long before the reader figures out why a particular name sounds so familiar. And when one of the central goals of mystery writing is to keep your readers guessing, it's not exactly a great idea to give them a big honking historical clue. (A bit like writing a mystery about bank robberies when two of your characters are Bonnie & Clyde...)So I'll admit, I spent a good few chapters afraid I'd spend the whole book wincing at the obvious misdirections and rolling my eyes at how impossibly slow our amateur detective was. But fortunately, Ms. Hambly is a bit more clever than that. The mystery takes on a few extra wrinkles, and there are a number of plausible twists and turns. Plus there's the introduction of a potential love interest for January, along with some shades of mystery in her own life. And finally, there's the vivid depiction of the unusual culture of 1830s New Orleans, which comes to life enough to almost qualify as a character in itself.All in all, rather than finding myself irritably waiting for the detective to figure things out (as I often am in a book where I think the culprit is painfully obvious), I found myself just enjoying the ride as the plot worked its way out.A successful story, and I look forward to reading the third book in this series.
This is a very good historical mystery, set in New Orleans in the 1830's during a summer outbreak of yellow fever. When people of color begin to quietly disappear, it's uncertain at first whether they're dropping dead from the fever, which can overcome a person with shocking speed, or if an even more sinister fate has befallen them.Hambly's writing is lush and vivid, and she brings the rather horrific setting to life. (The city was a cesspool even before people started dying all over the place. Don't read this while you're eating lunch.) Not only are the characterizations rich and realistic, I think Hambly does a good job of making January a man of his time. For instance, he's educated and enlightened, but while he's pretty sure that bleeding patients profusely and dosing them with "heroic" quantities of noxious substances will cause more harm than good, he doesn't have any idea what causes the disease so he's reluctant to criticize other people's efforts.I almost knocked a star off my rating because of the ending, which is unnecessarily sensationalist and gruesome. I don't care if it is based on a possibly true story, as the author's note claims. Also, I saw it coming very early in the novel, as I think most readers will.
Do You like book Fever Season (1999)?
The story is set in New Orleans during the 1830’s. Benjamin January, a colored man, is a surgeon and musician. He lived in Paris for a number of years but has returned to New Orleans where a colored person is not accepted as readily as in Paris. It is fever season and many people are stricken. January volunteers and helps care for the yellow fever victims in the Charity Hospital. During the day, he is able to work as a music teacher. A young slave woman who has escaped from a plantation asks for his help in finding her husband who was sold to new owners in New Orleans. Meanwhile, freed slaves are being kidnapped from their homes and disappearing without a trace. He tries to discover the whereabouts of the missing people. The story includes history along with mystery and suspense. I thoroughly enjoyed reading the book.
—Diana
I love this author and the characters she has created. The first in the series is; A Free Man Of Color. I recommend this series to anyone who loves historical fiction...done correctly. I get so wrapped up in her fine writing, I find myself no longer attached to this century. Ms. Hambly is also one not to ignore other scholars of the era, early 1800 New Orleans. She was gently admonished about the mistakes she made about describing Voodoo, Santeria, and other related African/Christian beliefs. I caught the mistakes myself and was pleased to find out she acknowledges her historical faux-pas with good humor and dignity.
—Zoe Jean
I was excited to see there are many books in the series. New Orleans is a great setting...that is part of the attraction for me...the mixture of history and mystery sounds perfect!
—Dagny
