Holli Castillo read and liked Debbi's review of Gumbo Justice:

"Does it hurt yet?

Those are the opening words to GUMBO JUSTICE and they haunt the main character, Ryan Murphy, for reasons made clear much later in the story.

When we meet Ryan, she's being roused in the dead of night after drin...more Does it hurt yet?

Those are the opening words to GUMBO JUSTICE and they haunt the main character, Ryan Murphy, for reasons made clear much later in the story.

When we meet Ryan, she's being roused in the dead of night after drinking way too much tequila and falling off her bar stool into what she sincerely hopes is beer. The phone rings and Ryan is summoned to a crime scene. So she's a cop? No! She's a New Orleans assistant district attorney with a boss who's a bit overeager to impress voters during an election year by having his staff show up at crime scenes. But it is a police procedural, right? Not exactly.

GUMBO JUSTICE starts out as a legal drama-cum-police procedural, with the hint of something more creepy in store after we see a strange man named Jacob watching Ryan from his hiding place at what turns out to be the scene of several murders in the same housing project. And they all have one thing in common--which I won't go into for fear of spoiling any of the story. Let's just say there's a common thread and it leads to trouble for Ryan.

This all takes place during a too-hot spring in New Orleans, the Big Easy--you can really feel the steam heat, the sweaty brows and dampened shirts in Holli Castillo's description. And it's a city depicted (warts and all) as a bold clash of sweet-smelling narcissus and lavish mansions with shabby shacks and impoverished housing projects.

Ryan is a tough talking, hard-drinking gal who dresses down and flaunts her belly ring with impunity at the opening crime scene, not caring what the police captain (aka, her daddy) thinks. She puts on her game face around the cops--Sean, her brother; Shep, the cute one; Spence, the big strong guy. (So many "S" names!) One of whom she's secretly attracted to--leading to a hint of romance (at least, Ryan hopes so--even if she won't quite admit it to herself at first).

Castillo does a great job of weaving in all the cop procedural details, along with the legal stuff without getting too technical (being a criminal defense lawyer and former New Orleans prosecutor probably helps, huh?). And we get to see Ryan strut her stuff in court a bit. At times, she pulls a couple of TV lawyer maneuvers that had me shaking my head, but smiling at her antics (even Ryan admits she's going somewhat over-the-top). And since most of the story's told from her point of view, we get the benefit of her many sardonic remarks and snappy one-liners, like one in the first chapter, when she's hastily rolling on deodorant: "While people might call her a bitch, Ryan wasn't going to let anyone say she stunk." Got to admire a woman whose got her priorities straight, right?

But beneath that tough exterior, Ryan's a woman with ghosts in her past. Traumas from childhood and the more recent past come together to create a dark, disturbing situation for her.

The story builds in tension with each murder until the common thread emerges and Ryan must face the danger head on.

From that point, the story takes a turn into full-tilt suspense/thriller mode. . . .

The entire review is online at http://linkbee.com/CJG4B
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