Dead Water

The Benjamin January Mysteries, Book 8

De: Barbara Hambly

Narrado por: Ron Butler

Nineteenth-century New Orleans is a blazing hotbed of scorching politics and personal vendettas. And it’s into this fire that Benjamin January falls when he is hired to follow Oliver Weems, a bank official who has absconded with $100,000 in gold and securities. But it’s more than just a job for January. The missing money is vital to the survival of the school for freed slaves that he and his wife, Rose, have founded.

Following the suspected embezzler - and the money - onto the steamboat Silver Moon, January, Rose, and their friend Hannibal Sefton are sworn to secrecy about the crime until they can find the trunks containing the stolen loot. And then the unexpected happens: Weems is found murdered, and suddenly the job of finding the pirated stash grows not only more difficult - but more deadly. There is no shortage of suspects - from the sinister slave dealer to the bullying steamship pilot, to the suspiciously innocent “lady” with connections to every river pirate in the riotous port of Natchez-Under-the-Hill - who all seem to have something to hide.

Now, with time running out, January seeks clues wherever he can find them - and allies among whoever can help. Working in tandem with a young planter named Jefferson Davis, he must uncover the dark web of corruption, betrayal, and greed that has already cost one man his life...and, if he can’t catch a brutal, remorseless killer, will soon cost January and his friends theirs.

©2004 Barbara Hambly (P)2021 Blackstone Publishing

Another good entry in the interesting series

The narrator could read me the phone book and I'd be mesmerized. Combine that with Hambly's stellar research and writing and I'm hooked. And listening to Ron Butler lithely pronouncing those French words... oh my! I can't wait for the whole series to be recorded.

Stellar entry in the series

Barbara Hambly is really a remarkable writer - her research is meticulous but the historical details only add to a great and very human story. And this one includes P.T. Barnum, for pete's sake! Ron Butler is a gifted narrator, one who never takes me out of the story with a mispronunciation or odd characterization. He's really one of the very best. I read the first handful of these novels a number of years ago and am so very glad to have reconnected with them, to get the rest of Benjamin's and Rose's story, as well as the stories of all their fascinating family and friends.