Dead Water: Summary and book reviews of Dead Water by Barbara Hambly, plus links to an excerpt from Dead Water and a biography of Barbara Hambly.

Nineteenth-century New Orleans is a blazing hotbed of scorching politics and personal vendettas. And it's into this fire that Benjamin January falls when he is hired to follow Oliver Weems, a bank official who has absconded with $100,000 in gold and securities. But it's more than just a job for January. The missing money is vital to the survival of the school for freed slaves that he and his wife Rose have founded. Following the suspected embezzler--and the money--onto the steamboat Silver Moon, January, Rose, and their friend Hannibal Sefton are sworn to secrecy about the crime until they can find the trunks containing the stolen loot. And then the unexpected happens: Weems is found murdered and suddenly the job of finding the pirated stash grows not only more difficult--but more deadly. There is no shortage of suspects--from the sinister slave-dealer to the bullying steamship pilot to the suspiciously innocent "lady" with connections to every river pirate in the riotous port of Natchez-Under-the-Hill--who all seem to have something to hide. Now, with time running out, January seeks clues wherever he can find them--and allies among whoever can help. Working in tandem with a young planter named Jefferson Davies, he must uncover the dark web of corruption, betrayal, and greed that has already cost one man his life...and, if he can't catch a brutal, remorseless killer, will soon cost January and his friends theirs.

Media Reviews

Publishers Weekly Hambly's brilliantly crafted eighth historical (after 2003's Days of the Dead) brings the antebellum South so alive you could swear the author traveled back in time to observe her settings firsthand... This riveting novel of suspense is sure to win Hambly many new fans.   Kirkus Reviews Hambly knows her stuff (voodoo amulets, river soundings, Latin tags, African songs, laudanum derivatives, pre-Civil War tracts) and is one of a handful of historical writers who's mastered the conventions of the classic mystery puzzle.   Booklist - David Pitt The latest entry in the deservedly popular Benjamin January series finds the amateur sleuth investigating a couple of mysteries....Where many writers of historical mysteries get bogged down in exposition, or in cataloging details that most readers are not interested in, Hambly keeps things moving, always focused on her characters and her story, and not on showing off the quantity of research she's done. Keep 'em coming!

Recent Reader Reviews

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