Publisher's Weekly Review
At the outset of Hambly's stellar 11th whodunit set in antebellum New Orleans (after 2011's The Shirt on His Back), a witness declares he saw a wealthy "infidel" Turk hurl two dead concubines from his attic window, but free black Benjamin January knew that Turk, Huseyin Pasha, 10 years earlier in Paris, where January lived with his adored first wife, Ayasha, for a compassionate human being incapable of such a murder. In financially strapped New Orleans of 1837, unscrupulous Americans who prevent their slaves from learning to read and hypocritical religious charlatans prey on the defenseless, while January risks his own life and his family's in defending the Turk and his household and providing a station for escaping slaves on the underground railway. Hambly matches her moving portrayals of society's underdogs with thrilling escapes, bittersweet insights into love and loss, and vignettes of New Orleans' voodoo priestesses. Agent: Frances Collin Literary Agency. (Jan.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
Booklist Review
*Starred Review* The prolific Hambly returns to her popular Benjamin January series with a tale that jumps from New Orleans in the late 1830s, with free man of color January a musician, surgeon, and Underground Railroad conducter navigating between the French, American, free black, and slave communities, and back to Paris, 10 years earlier, when he was married to Ayasha, his first wife. Connecting the two time frames is January's friend, Huseyin Pasah, known as The Turk, who is believed to have strangled his two concubines and thrown the bodies out a window. January isn't buying that. He knows the Turk from their time together in Paris and doesn't believe he would harm the women. Investigating the case, January treads a thin line, as always, knowing that his freedom and that of his present wife, Rose, and their baby son could so easily be taken away. Who would vouch for January as a free black if he was caught by a white slave trader in the wrong part of town? Hambly seamlessly combines two mysteries here, the one in the Paris backstory, which has January and the Turk searching for one of the concubines, and the one in the present involving the attempt to clear the Turk of the concubines' deaths. The touching portrait of January's love for his two very different wives as well as the incredible period detail and rich atmosphere make this stand out among historical mysteries. Suggest it to readers who also enjoy Jason Goodwin's Investigator Yashim series.--Moyer, Jessica Copyright 2010 Booklist
Kirkus Review
Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Library Journal Review
Travel further into freed slave Benjamin January's (The Shirt on His Back) past as he recalls 1827 Paris. His memories are critical to saving the life and reputation of an old Turkish ally a decade later in New Orleans. [See Prepub Alert, 8/2/11.] (c) Copyright 2012. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.