Cold Bayou (A Benjamin January Mystery)
In 1830s New Orleans, Benjamin January must fight for not only his freedom, but for the freedom of his entire family in Hambly’s 16th installment of the Benjamin January mystery series. January, a freed black man trained as a doctor and a musician, agrees to play the piano at the wedding of Veryl St.-Chinian despite the ominous warning of his sister Olympe, a voodooiene, that nothing good will come of him being at the plantation, Cold Bayou. Veryl’s family is firmly set against the 67-year-old man marrying Ellie Trask, an Irish girl 50 years his junior with sordid past. When Ellie finds a severed chicken foot sewn into her dress—a sure sign of voodoo magic—she is certain that someone wants her dead. Then, the preacher goes missing and Ellie’s servant, Valla, claims that a debt was never repaid on a loan that freed January’s family. When Valla turns up dead, all eyes fall on January.
Cold Bayou is a meticulously researched story that delves into the harsh reality of living as a freed black man among slaves in the Deep South where the shade of your skin matters so very much. Hambly’s writing is intricate and detailed, almost to the point that some readers will find that it hinders the pace. Encompassing a large cast of characters, this is not the book with which to jump into the series, as readers will struggle with keeping straight the often-crooked family trees. With an atmosphere as heavy as the bayous themselves, this is a mystery with an imaginative twist that will satisfy fans of Hambly’s series and readers who wish to explore the interplay between cultures in antebellum New Orleans.
