One of my latest reads was Up Jumped the Devil by Martha Reed. This is the second book in the Crescent City NOLA Mystery series.
Set in New Orleans during Mardi Gras, Up Jumped the Devil is chock full of a host of well-developed interesting characters, intrigue, the lore of New Orleans, and a little bit of voodoo.
Jane Byrne is the Chief Security Officer working the graveyard shift in New Orleans’ famous St. Louis Cemetery. The story starts with Jane trying to catch graffiti vandals. With a bad knee, and a boss who wants the culprits caught yesterday, Jane enlists the help of her transgender friend, Gigi. When Jane and Gigi corner a vandal, Gigi realizes she has seen the trespasser before. When the two sleuths track the perpetrator down, they find themselves entwined in a kidnapping ring. Solving the mystery is a matter of life and death – possibly their own.
Some of the other characters are Gigi’s father, Ken, who is a musician, his wife, Leslie, and Aunt Babette, a NOLA voodoo queen.
In Up Jumped the Devil, Martha Reed’s research of NOLA shines. I enjoy Reed’s storytelling and her ability to transport readers with vivid descriptions into the story and keep them there long after they finish the book.
When book three in this series comes out, it will be on my TBR list.
