Reviewed By: Ruth Jordan - RAM
Days of the Dead
Amazon US PB Amazon US HC Amazon Canada PB Amazon Canada HC
Barbara Hambly
Class/Genre: Mystery Historical Thriller
Series: Benjamin January Mysteries # 7
July 2003, Bantam, 336 pages / $23.95
Barbara Hambly is one of four authors who has inspired a rejuvenated love for the historical mystery in me. Benjamin January is singularly intriguing in all of our favorite genre.
Born a slave and educated to be a free and thinking man in France January returns to the state of his birth to find his fellow black men more suppressed than ever. Fast forward to 1835. He’s been home for a few years now and has just married when a cry for help arrives from Mexico City. A friend is under house arrest for murder and needs January’s expertise as an amateur sleuth.
Arriving with new bride Rose to aid his friend Hannibal January finds himself up against many hurdles. The case against friend Hannibal appears so air-tight that even his fiancee believes the man guilty. The mystery is locked room to rival Dickson Carr . The history is again astounding. With an eye to both research and story Hambly has captured the Mexico City of the time in all it’s tawdriness. The superstition oozes off the page and January’s meetings with “celebrities” of the day are very well done. For habitual readers of this wonderful gem of a series don’t worry...you will not miss New Orleans. New readers? What are you waiting for?
Ruth Jordan - RAM
Reprinted with permission. Do Not repost without permission from the author, Ruth Jordan - RAM
If you enjoy this website, a link would be appreciated. |