Date: Thu, 01 Aug 2002 18:42:28 -0400
From: "Michael Walsh" <MJW at mail.press.jhu.edu>
To: <WSFAlist at keithlynch.net>
Subject: [WSFA] Past Disclave GoH news
Reply-To: WSFA members <WSFAlist at keithlynch.net>

Barbara Hambly . . .

>From the Publishers Weekly Daily e-letter:

"For those who prefer their mysteries to have more of a historical
slant, Barbara Hambly's character Benjamin January may be just the
ticket. Wet Grave (Bantam, $23.95) is her sixth book to feature the
former slave and Creole surgeon who, despite his many accomplishments,
is still considered a second-class citizen in New Orleans of the
1830s.

It is a steamy July in the Crescent City. An elderly black woman, once
rumored to be the mistress of pirate Jean Lafitte, is found slashed to
death in a back-street shanty.

January remembers the woman from 20 years earlier--a blazing ebony
beauty, exquisitely gowned, well-cared for. What brought her to such a
low, lonely and violent death?

Angry and sad because no one is doing anything, January begins to
investigate on his own. He quickly discovers the murder was not a
random act of violence but, instead, one of cold-blooded
premeditation--which makes it all the more puzzling.

Add in elements of newfound love, a harrowing escape in the swamp and
rumors of a slave revolt, and Wet Grave becomes the best of
page-turners.

"Hambly's descriptive ability is nothing short of astonishing," writes
Katy Munger in the Washington Post. "With equal authenticity, she
makes you feel as if you are raising champagne glasses with the rich,
lost in the heart of a cypress swamp, trapped in the center of a
raging hurricane or winding your way along a dark and dangerous New
Orleans street. Add in a plot that includes family rivalries, buried
treasure, hungry alligators and mysterious plantation owners who
haven't been seen in public for over 20 years, and you've got an
unadulterated winner...every word...[is] beautifully
written."