by Barbara Hambly
I first discovered Hambly by reading her fantasy. In fact, the book was Dragonsbane. But, I think her real love is historical fiction because her historical fiction is better. This was the first her historical fiction I read. It is the start of the Ben January series. Ben is a free man of color in r...
I discovered this series by accident, picking up somewhere in the middle of it. Luckily, the books are able to stand on their own without starting at the beginning!Anyway, this book introduces Benjamin Janvier, a free man of color in Jacksonian New Orleans. He is a musician by trade, although he stu...
2015 Reading Challenge: A book set somewhere you've always wanted to visit
First Benjamin January mystery. It’s moody, atmospheric, somewhat depressing in a certain way. Certainly well written, and I liked it enough to go on to the next. However, the solution to that one was quite upsetting to me, and I’m not sure whether to continue. People who’ve read more of them: is th...
Ben January has several problems. The least of which was traveling from Europe back to his home of New Orleans after the death of his wife. He doesn’t get along with his mother. He finds himself in the middle of a murder mystery. He doesn’t make enough money. Oh, and he’s a black man in New Orl...
Well written Detective story from a fantasy master. Annoyingly it is described by some reviewers as her ‘debut’ novel, but sometimes people don’t notice little things like the author writing for about 10 years or so. New Orleans is the locations and the setting is well depicted. Pre civil war, New O...
I really enjoyed this story set in New Orleans during the very early 1800's. The book was well written and the mystery kept me going. I enjoyed the character and the "mysterious" descriptions of New Orleans. I have always been fascinated with NO and this book just kept it going.
A very good thriller set in pre-Civil War New Orleans. The setting is unusual, the characters compelling and the plot full of very interesting twists -- all told in lush prose without a lot of the inaccuracies to be found in most historical fiction, mysteries or otherwise. For the longer review, ple...
Rating: 3* of fiveThe first Benjamin January/Javier mystery set in 1833 New Orleans and featuring a black musician/doctor as our POV character/sleuth.The backstory of this mystery is, in my observation, more interesting than the mystery to be solved. I wasn't able to get into the book on first read,...
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