Book Review: Sold Down The River

Reviewed By: Harriet Klausner

Sold Down The River     Amazon US PB Amazon US HC Amazon Canada PB Amazon Canada HC
Barbara Hambly
Class/Genre:   Mystery   Historical
Series: Benjamin January Mysteries # 4
Bantam, Jul 2000, $23.95, 336 pp.

In 1834 New Orleans, Benjamin January hopes to make some money to support himself and his mother by providing piano lessons. However, his livelihood is interrupted when his former slave master, the cruel Simon Fourchet demands he help him discover who is causing havoc at Mon Triomphe Plantation. Ben remains concerned for what Simon is capable of doing to all the slaves at his two plantations. However, he also has been there, done that, and has Simon’s whip marks from a beating when he was seven to prove it. In spite of his personal fears, Ben reluctantly agrees to investigate.

Someone has destroyed much of the sugar cane crop and left voodoo messages on the mill’s walls. The masters believe this Turner wannabe has aroused the sentiments that easily could boil into a slave uprising. Worried about the white man’s retaliation towards everyone with black skin, Ben goes undercover as a slave on the embattled plantation. As Ben makes quiet inquiries, he remembers with this new experience how humiliating being a slave is and worries that he might never regain his freedom.

SOLD DOWN THE RIVER includes a great mystery with excellent characters. However, what makes this Americana fiction must reading is the depth of the period interwoven into the plot. It feels as if the audience is seeing first hand the perilous life of a slave on a plantation. The excellent who-done-it is cleverly designed and disguised. However, as with its predecessors (see A FREE MAN OF COLOR, FEVER SEASON, and GRAVEYARD DUST), this novel is a welcomed period piece that should bring much acclaim and many awards to Barbara Hambley.

Harriet Klausner

Reprinted with permission. Do Not repost without permission from the author, Harriet Klausner