From Publishers Weekly
Haines acknowledges her debt to James Lee Burke in this atmospheric historical (after 2005's
Penumbra), set in New Iberia Parish, La., at the close of WWII. Deputy Raymond Thibodeaux (sounds like Robicheaux) battles his own wartime demons as he tries to find the person responsible for the gruesome killing of wealthy landowner Henri Bastion. Fragile Adele Hebert confesses to the crime, but because she believes herself possessed, Thibodeaux assumes she's not the culprit. Superstitions lie as thick and menacing as the morning fog over the bayou, and word quickly spreads that a werewolf has overtaken Adele's body. Haines's greatest strength is her powerful sense of place: here the miasmic swamp is as alive and as threatening as any villain. Despite a predictably happy ending and an irritating tendency to repetition, Haines has created an engaging, memorable story.
(Feb.) Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
From Booklist
Following up her moody
Penumbra (2005), Haines tells a story of murder and mysticism in post-World War II Louisiana. Henri Bastion, the wealthiest man in New Iberia, has been killed in an especially gruesome way. Deputy Raymond Thibodeaux finds a young woman standing over Bastion's body who claims to be possessed by a legendary Cajun shape-shifter, the
loup garou (otherwise known as a werewolf). Determined to prove the woman has been framed for Bastion's death, Thibodeaux puts his own life on the line. The book depends heavily on its spooky atmosphere, and Haines delivers it with style. Readers of Haines' cozy mysteries starring Sarah Booth Delaney are in for quite a surprise here, but it's a good surprise. Haines may be better at doing dark and spooky than cozy and warm.
David PittCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
