No one has paid for the cold-blooded murder of detective
Quentin Archer's wife. Archer got no support from fellow
Detroit police officers when he accused his own family
members of being involved in the crime. Knowing if he pushes
the investigation too hard, he could be their next victim,
so Archer is constantly vigilant. He leaves Detroit and for
the past six months has been working as a homicide detective
in sultry New Orleans, trying to adjust to a new way of life
and how things are done in the Big Easy.
Archer has always been able to distinguish good from bad
and reach logical conclusions, but something in New Orleans
is interfering with this ability. When he's assigned to
investigate the vicious murder of a renowned juvenile
judge, Archer finds himself embroiled in a case involving
peculiar people and strange customs unlike anything he's
ever faced before. His encounter with voodoo queen Solange
Cordray unnerves him even further, but also provides
insight into some of the facts he's uncovered.
Solange Cordray volunteers three days a week at the dementia
care facility where her mother is an Alzheimer's patient.
She also runs a New Orleans voodoo shop inherited from her
mother, who taught her to use her special gifts for good,
not bad, to make things better. When Solange discerns facts
about the judge's murder from reading the
mind of one of the facility's patients, she has to tell the
investigating detective. The information she imparts to
Archer will lead to the highest echelons of politics and
commerce, as well as the local police, as more judges are
executed to keep the secret from being exposed.
CASTING BONES by Don Bruns quickly cast a mystical
spell over me and did not release me until the exciting
finish. This police/crime thriller links edgy suspense with
the moody, steamy setting of New Orleans as Bruns
constructs a gripping plot with expertly realized
characters. Vivid imagery in the descriptive, and seemingly
effortless, prose bring the Big Easy to life, as well as
giving authenticity to the myriad of unusual characters. I
was so engaged in the storyline, as well as all the
characters' interaction, I could not stand to put CASTING
BONES down for any length of time. Don Bruns is a
master storyteller with several exceptional series already
to his credit. With this new series, I am sure he will
garner even more fans. I anxiously await the next magical
encounter between Archer and Solange in steamy New Orleans.
Introducing New Orleans homicide detective Quentin
Archer in the first of a brand-new mystery series.
When a prominent New Orleans judge is brutally murdered,
former Detroit cop Quentin Archer is handed the case. His
enquiries will lead him into a world of darkness and
mysticism which underpins the carefree atmosphere of the
Big Easy. Interrogating crooked police officers, a
pickpocket, a bartender with underground contacts and a
swamp dweller, Archer uncovers some troubling facts about
the late judge’s past. But it’s only when he encounters a be
beautiful young voodoo practitioner that he starts to make he
head
he
headway in the investigation.
Voodoo queen Solange Cordray volunteers at the dementia
center where her mother lives. When she starts reading the
mind of one of her patients, she learns that a secretive
organization known as Krewe Charbonerrie may be behind the
murder of the judge. And the second murder. And the
third . . .