For readers who enjoy tough female detectives, Skip Langdon fits the bill. She's the protagonist in New Orleans Mourning, born to a couple on the Crescent City's social register, though she's rejected their ways in favor of becoming a cop. Not at all your conventional Southern Belle, Skip's a tall and large-boned woman and a mass of neuroses, who just doesn't fit into the whole New Orleans society mileau.
Although Skip's just a city beat cop when the story opens, she has ambitions of making detective. So when the King of Carnival at Mardi Gras, a political up-and-comer named Chauncey St. Amant, is murdered by a gun-toting Dolly Parton look-alike and Skip's put on temporary homicide detail, she's all over it like red beans on rice.
The Set-up
Chauncey St. Amant is a man of humble origin who married into New Orleans society through his wife, Bitty – a woman who enjoys a nip from the bottle now and then (i.e., almost always). Chauncey is highly-regarded, but somewhat controversial, for his progressive views on racial equality. He and Bitty have two children, Henry and Marcelle. Altogether, they make a most intriguing (and secretly) dysfunctional family. (Along with Uncle Tolliver, who has his own issues and is almost a part of the family.)
Skip's job is to use her society connections (such as they are) to gather inside intelligence that may help crack the case. As one brought up among the New Orleans society set, Skip knows the St. Amants personally, and Marcelle seems to warm up to Skip (though they were never close as kids), while Henry tries to freeze her out. Meanwhile, Skip gets involved with a visiting L.A. filmmaker who has managed to capture the shooting on film. However, the filmmaker's mugged and the only copy of the film stolen.
Explores New Orleans Society and Politics
The story is more than a mystery. It's an exploration of New Orleans society and politics, as well as a character study of Skip, a woman who refuses to conform and finds it hard to open her heart to love, despite the L.A. filmmaker's attentions. It's also an in-depth look at the St. Amants, a family in crisis. Author Julie Smith is a masterful writer, whose third-person narrative unfolds from multiple perspectives, providing clues (both apparent ones and those ultimately revealed to have been hiding in plain sight) and lots of red herrings.
Smith also describes New Orleans in loving detail. Not only its people, but places, food, music and traditions. The book actually starts with a prologue describing the history and traditions of Mardi Gras and how various luminaries of the event are chosen based on certain exclusive club memberships. Although the plot details get a trifle convoluted and murky at times (and the changes in point of view occasionally confusing), on the whole, the story is absorbing.
A Compelling and Thought-provoking Mystery
The narrative builds steam, as the reader learns ever more about the secrets in each person's past. Each character has some traumatic memory or unresolved issue they grapple with that could be a motive for murder. In addition, Chauncey's views on society and race are far more complex than appear on the surface. So Skip's investigation drags many family secrets out into the open before the case is finally solved.
The novel ends on a note that suggests that, under certain circumstances, the system may fall short when it comes to dispensing justice. New Orleans is depicted as a fascinating place with an elaborate set of rules of societal and racial politics. Plus the St. Amants are so screwed up, they make a family from a Tennessee Williams play look like the Brady Bunch. In short, the book has all the ingredients you need for a compelling and thought-provoking mystery.
New Orleans Mourning Fawcett (December 25, 1990), ISBN: 978-0-8041-0738-9
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