House of the Patriarch (A Benjamin January Mystery Book 18)
Benjamin January is a Black physician in antebellum New Orleans who must moonlight as a detective-for-hire to make ends meet. His latest case, in Barbara Hambly’s House of the Patriarch, is the disappearance of a young English lady, Eve Russell, who, he learns, was interested in spiritual questions. Acting on clues pointing to one new religious community, January travels to western New York State, known by 1840 as the “Burned over District” for its fervor. Posing as a runaway slave seeking to be conducted safely to freedom in Canada, he enters the community in search of Eve. The community, also known as the Children of Light, is led by Rev. Serapis Broadax, who promises mesmerizing revelations to his followers through his medium to the angels, the Shining Herald. All the while, January is under threat from slave catchers.
January’s sensible and skeptical nature is the moral core of the novel. He is a keen observer of white American society at this point in history, and these observations dot the narrative. As is common in mysteries, January’s own arc remains flat as he investigates the Children of Light. He is a wonderful character, though.
The secondary characters and the general aesthetic are where House of the Patriarch really shines. The maze-like nature of the house in question is described so well the reader can feel January’s claustrophobia. Phineas T. Barnum appears as an essential ally of January’s, and is depicted with great sympathetic nuance. The same is true of Eve herself, and even Broadax gets his due.
If you would like a glimpse at the Second Great Awakening, a lesser-known chapter in antebellum US history, House of the Patriarch gives a good sense of the atmosphere.
