Sinner,
Saint or Serpent
By
John Anthony Miller
New
Orleans, 1926
When a
leading businessman is found murdered, investigative reporters Justice Harper,
known for his fairness, and Remy Morel, his sassy counterpart, are determined
to find the killer. There are three suspects, all prominent women in New
Orleans society. The sinner is Blaze Barbeau, a real estate magnate with a
checkered past. The saint is Lucinda Boyd, who lost her family business to the
victim. And the serpent is a spooky voodoo queen named Belladonna Dede.
Excerpt
New Orleans,
Louisiana
May 18, 1926 at
7:37 p.m.
August Chevalier
sat in the parlor of his Royal Street mansion, eyes wide open, a bullet hole in
the center of his forehead with a line of blood trailing down the bridge of his
nose. He seemed surprised by death’s arrival, or by whoever delivered it, as if
meeting his maker had been the farthest thing from his mind at the time.
I studied the body
from the foyer, leaning against the white molding of the arched entrance,
watching the investigation. The corpse sat on a Victorian couch, lavender with
lion’s paws feet, a book lying askew beside it. The Prince, by Machiavelli, was a political discourse that
supposedly gave good advice for handling enemies to business folks like
Chevalier. He should have read it just a little bit sooner.
There was an Art
Deco table in front of the couch with a glass top and floral wrought iron frame
that matched the fence that circled the property. Chevalier’s left leg was
stretched out beneath it, a nick on the sole of his Italian leather shoe. Like
most rich folks, he wore expensive clothes – a silk blue shirt and darker
slacks with barely a wrinkle in them.
Even though I had
no right to be at the crime scene, I was there just the same. So I just kept
looking around the room, scribbling notes on a pad I always carried with me. There
was a small leather bag on the floor near the leg of the couch, just beside the
body. The string keeping it closed had come undone, and there was a trail of
gray powder, a few streaks of vermillion and chunks of something that looked
like bones or small animal parts scattered across the Oriental carpet. I knew
it was a gris-gris bag, a voodoo charm used to ward off evil or bring good luck
– or any number of things that the creator might make for the purchaser. They
were popular in New Orleans, especially among the superstitious. And even those
that weren’t.
A grandfather’s
clock stood against the far wall, a leather chair beside it, while a mahogany
desk sat just under the side window. It was flanked by two cypress bookshelves,
the spines of decorative leather volumes visible as you entered the room. A few
papers were arranged real neat on the desktop, with a torn envelope and a
folded letter that was a bit crumpled tossed near one edge. It looked recently
opened, read and discarded, the contents perhaps not to the liking of the
addressee. The writing on the envelope, visible from my location whereas the
letter itself was not, showed fine penmanship, a swirling cursive with a flair
for the dramatic, sex of the originator unknown. I leaned toward female. Most
men I knew, including myself, were just not that neat.
Pick
up your copy of
Sinner,
Saint or Serpent
John Anthony
Miller
John Anthony
Miller was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to a father of English ancestry
and a second-generation Italian mother. Motivated by a life-long love of travel
and history, he normally sets his novels in exotic locations during eras of
global conflict. Characters must cope and combat, overcoming their own
weaknesses as well as the external influences spawned by tumultuous times. He’s
the author of the historical thrillers, To Parts Unknown, In Satan’s Shadow,
When Darkness Comes, All the King's Soldiers, and For Those Who Dare, as well
as the historical mystery, Honour the Dead. His latest novel, Sinner, Saint or
Serpent, is a jazz age murder mystery set in New Orleans. He lives in southern
New Jersey with his family.
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See you on your next coffee break!
Take Care,
Mary Anne xxx