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Casting Bones
Casting Bones
Casting Bones
Ebook386 pages8 hours

Casting Bones

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

3.5/5

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In this “utterly compelling” mystery, a triple homicide draws detective Quentin Archer and a voodoo queen into the steamy underbelly of New Orleans (Jeffery Deaver).
 
“With charismatic characters, superb locations, and a great hard-edged story,” Don Bruns introduces his Quentin Archer Mysteries (Lee Child).
 
When a prominent New Orleans judge is brutally murdered, former Detroit cop Quentin Archer is handed the case. His enquiries will lead him into a world of darkness and mysticism which underpins the carefree atmosphere of the Big Easy.
 
Interrogating crooked police officers, a pickpocket, a bartender with underground contacts, and a swamp dweller, Archer uncovers some troubling facts about the late judge’s past. But it’s only when he encounters a beautiful young voodoo practitioner that he starts to make headway in the investigation . . .
 
Solange Cordray volunteers at the dementia center where her mother lives. When she starts reading the mind of one of her patients, she learns that a secretive organization known as Krewe Charbonerrie may be behind the murder of the judge. And when a second judge is murdered—and then a third—Solange and Quentin’s investigation takes them deep into the darkest parts of the Big Easy . . .
 
“This thriller immediately casts a spell on you and doesn’t let go until the very last page!” —Jeffery Deaver
LanguageEnglish
Release dateOct 1, 2016
ISBN9781780107967
Casting Bones
Author

Don Bruns

Don Bruns is a singer and songwriter, a painter, a cook, a traveler, and stand-up-comic who has not decided what to do when he grows up. He is also the author of two mystery series. His “stuff series” showcases the unstoppable yet bumbling young private investigators, James Lessor and Skip Moore, and his “music series” features rock and roll writer Mick Sever. Don and his wife, Linda, live in South Florida.

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Rating: 3.6000000200000004 out of 5 stars
3.5/5

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  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    This is the first of a new series of police procedurals set in what the publisher calls “one of the most fascinating cities in the world: New Orleans.” Bruns—with five books in his Caribbean series and seven in the popular “Stuff” series—delights in the Big Easy’s atmosphere and culture in creating his backdrops, colorful cast of characters, and the shenanigans that take place. It’s a story that could take place only there, which is a real plus—like a visit without so many calories.Disgraced former Detroit police detective Quentin Archer has relocated to Nawlins to restart his career. His ability to stay in Detroit floundered when he fingered a fellow Motor City cop—and, by the way, his two policeman brothers—for drug dealing. Suffice it to say, he’s a man who has to watch his back.His interpersonal relations aren’t that much better in his new job. He can’t trust his partner, who admits to selling information about cases to unknown parties, and the mercurial sergeant in charge overtly dislikes the Detroit man. In the way of supervisors everywhere, he can make Archer’s life miserable and does. When the body of a New Orleans juvenile court judge is found floating in the Mississippi River, the principal question on Archer’s mind is, Why? Why shoot Judge David Lerner? Was it because of his notoriously harsh sentences? Or did it have to do with the mysterious printouts found in the back of his Jag? Before any of these questions can be answered, in a bit of piling on, two more judges are dead—one in a strange, possibly staged, motor vehicle accident, and the other in a mugging-gone-wrong. In true New Orleans style, at least as much is hidden as is revealed. It’s as if the murky waters of the muddy Mississippi obscure the vision of the entire town, and no one seems to want the truth. Meanwhile, his partner—with the connivance of the higher-ups concerned about tourism—is on the verge of railroading a young black kitchen worker for Lerner’s death. Archer has only days to come up with an alternative scenario that sticks.He finds help from an unusual ally when he encounters Solange Cordray, the beautiful daughter of a voodoo priestess. Because this is a multiple point-of-view novel, you read Cordray’s interpretation of events as well as Archer’s, his partner’s, and others’. It’s clear that her special knowledge of events past and future is not a cynical fabrication, and that, although what she perceives as messages from the spirits is not always clear, she sincerely believes them. Some loose ends, especially regarding Archer’s Detroit woes, are not totally tied up by this book’s end, suggesting sequels to come. The publisher under-invested in proofreading, but, bottom line, this is a fast-paced read with great atmosphere and interesting characters and situations.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    I really liked this mystery. The story features a detective new to the New Orleans PD and a voodoo practitioner who feels compelled to help him. Sparks fly between the two, but no romance develops in this first installment of the Quentin Archer mysteries. I liked the way that the setting was realistic and impacted the story. I liked the characters. It was obvious who the killer was, but the resolution was up in the air since both of the main characters were in danger.

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Casting Bones - Don Bruns

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