Lady of Perdition (A Benjamin January Mystery)
In 1840, Benjamin January, a freed black man, leaves the safety of his New Orleans home for the perils of the “Slaveholder’s Republic” of Texas in search of his former pupil, Selina. She has been kidnapped by a ruffian and was likely sold into slavery. Ben is not an ordinary man; he has been educated as a physician in France and is a music teacher. A fellow musician, Sefton, accompanies him. Attempting to blend in with the locals, Ben acts as Sefton’s valet. Another friend, Shaw, an aggressive white policeman, also joins the rescue party. In Texas, they are assisted by Valentina, the Rancho Perdition’s owner’s wife, but get involved in another mystery—the murder of Valentina’s husband. There the group encounters not only bandits, hitmen, and general lawlessness but also the political intrigues of that period between the American unionists and non-unionists, irritated Mexicans, rancorous Comanches, and others, particularly Valentina’s in-laws.
In this seventeenth offering of the Benjamin January Mystery series, Barbara Hambly has generally succeeded in making it a standalone novel. While she presents minimal backstory on the characters from the previous books, the narrative focuses on the conditions in Texas during the 1840s. The turmoil is aptly shown by the individuals’ actions, their beliefs, and their allegiance to various political causes. Ben’s steely resolution (the backbone of this series) is again fittingly demonstrated when he acts as a black servant and deals with abuse from others. We feel his (and others’ in similar situations) pain and mental anguish. While murders, rapes, thefts, and violence were commonplace in that era, their inclusion in this novel into a twin mystery is made compelling by the addition of the historical details, and the exposition of the plight of the unfortunate, the black population, and particularly the treatment of women. Highly recommended.
