Reviews

LThis was a page-turning and surprisingly compassionate, if a little weird, take on the noir novel. (I liked it a lot better once I figured out that I shouldn’t take Claire too seriously) Like Agatha Christie guest writing for the X Files. I liked it.

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5.0

I loved this book. It was as if a female version of Gabriel García Márquez plopped down in the middle of New Orleans and began to tell a story. This book isn't so much about the mystery, but about how the setting can influence the mystery and the characters that surrounded it.

As someone who lived in New Orleans, at times the book was a difficult read. The author must've lived there at some point herself, because she gets it so incredibly right -- what life was like before Katrina, how life looked after Katrina, and how it changed the people who populate the city. The words used are perfect for the setting, and she doesn't attempt to inflict a southern accent on New Orleanians like so many not from the city do. The only trouble was that all this realism made me have to put the book down at times, because I was swept away by nostalgia and longing for the city. Fortunately, the magical elements of the book allowed me to pick it back up again and drift away. Again, this isn't so much about the mystery (which is whether a man survived the storm) but about the ways in which lives have influenced the characters, and the ways the city continues to do so.

I never thought I'd find a touch of magical realism in a mystery, but I'm sure glad I did.