Cold Bayou

by Barbara Hambly

Book 16 in the Benjamin January Mysteries series.

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Audio available 4.4

Benjamin January agrees to play at the wedding of elderly Creole landowner Veryl St-Chinian and the much younger Ellie Trask. The marriage threatens inheritances and alliances throughout the interconnected St-Chinian and Viellard families before the guests even reach the isolated Cold Bayou plantation.

A body with its throat cut is discovered near the house, and circumstances are arranged to make January the principal suspect. Cut off from the protections of New Orleans, he must investigate the family’s financial and sexual rivalries while avoiding the summary justice that can be directed at a Black man accused of killing a white person.