Crimson Angel (A Benjamin January Historical Mystery, 13)

The latest crime-solving adventure of Barbara Hambly’s intrepid Benjamin January, a free black surgeon and musician living in 1830s New Orleans, begins when Jeoffrey Vitrack, the white half-brother of January’s wife, Rose, appears on their doorstep. He shows them a tiny, scarlet-enameled pendant called the Crimson Angel and says he believes that it is connected to a treasure that the Vitrac ancestors may have left behind when they fled Haiti decades before, following the mass slave insurrection there. The need to solve the Angel’s mystery soon deepens beyond mere desire for wealth, however, when Jeoffrey is murdered and Rose herself is attacked. Clearly, other people are also after the loot—or perhaps something else connected with the Crimson Angel—and want to eliminate any possible rivals in the hunt. The quest takes January, Rose, and their friend Hannibal Sefton, first to Cuba (where the family had gone after leaving Haiti) and then to Haiti itself, a grim place where strangers of any skin color are extremely unwelcome.

I always enjoy accompanying January, and it was nice to be reunited with down-to-earth Rose and erudite Hannibal, who have been missing from January’s last few exploits. The mystery, as always, was complex and satisfying, too, and ultimately presents January with an interesting moral dilemma. Perhaps most of all, though, I reveled in Hambly’s talent for bringing historical times and places to life, which has been on especially great display in this and the previous several books in the series because they venture beyond New Orleans. Here she gives us a look at the backwoods plantation of another Vitrac brother—a far cry from Gone with the Wind-style luxury, even for its white owners—and, in considerable detail, the societies of Cuba and Haiti. Reading her books is always as educational as it is enjoyable, and I heartily recommend this book, not only to Benjamin January fans, but to anyone who enjoys good historical novels.

I love this series, and all the recurring characters in it.

I also love the perspective the series gives on New Orleans in the early 19th century, with all its complexity.

This book has a connection to a lot of Caribbean history, including Cuba, Jamaica, and Haiti, and its history of the slave trade and sugar plantations- and prejudices.

Also, a possible treasure! And potential disgrace for someone in the USA, who had an ambition for politics.

I am not sure if this would work as well if one has not also read other books in the series; many of the relationships make more sense when one knows the backstory. If this appeals, do check out some of the previous novels in Hambly's series.

I love this series, and all the recurring characters in it.

I also love the perspective the series gives on New Orleans in the early 19th century, with all its complexity.

This book has a connection to a lot of Caribbean history, including Cuba, Jamaica, and Haiti, and its history of the slave trade and sugar plantations- and prejudices.

Also, a possible treasure! And potential disgrace for someone in the USA, who had an ambition for politics.

I am not sure if this would work as well if one has not also read other books in the series; many of the relationships make more sense when one knows the backstory. If this appeals, do check out some of the previous novels in Hambly's series.

I love this series, and all the recurring characters in it.

I also love the perspective the series gives on New Orleans in the early 19th century, with all its complexity.

This book has a connection to a lot of Caribbean history, including Cuba, Jamaica, and Haiti, and its history of the slave trade and sugar plantations- and prejudices.

Also, a possible treasure! And potential disgrace for someone in the USA, who had an ambition for politics.

I am not sure if this would work as well if one has not also read other books in the series; many of the relationships make more sense when one knows the backstory. If this appeals, do check out some of the previous novels in Hambly's series.

This is the only series of murder mysteries - and I read a LOT - that I have collected in my personal library.