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Benjamin January #6
Wet Grave
In such stunning novels of crime and character as Die Upon a Kiss, Sold Down the River, and A Free Man of Color , Benjamin January tracked down killers through the sensuous, atmospheric, dangerously beautiful world of Old New Orleans. Now, in this new novel by bestselling author Barbara Hambly, he follows a trail of murder from illicit back alleys to glittering mansions to a dark place where the oldest and deadliest secrets lie buried . . .
Wet Grave
It’s 1835 and the relentless glare of the late July sun has slowed New Orleans to a standstill. When Hesione LeGros--once a corsair’s jeweled mistress, now a raddled hag--is found slashed to death in a shanty on the fringe of New Orleans’s most lawless quarter, there are few to care. But one of them is Benjamin January, musician and teacher. He well recalls her blazing ebony beauty when she appeared, exquisitely gowned and handy with a stiletto, at a demimonde banquet years ago.
Who would want to kill this woman now--Hessy, they said, would turn a trick for a bottle of rum--had some quarrelsome “customer” decided to do away with her? Or could it be one of the sexual predators who roamed the dark and seedy streets? Or--as Benjamin comes to suspect--was her killer someone she knew, someone whose careful search of her shack suggests a cold-blooded crime? Someone whose boot left a chillingly distinctive print . . .
His inquiries at taverns, markets, and slave dances reveal little about “Hellfire Hessy” since her glory days in Barataria Bay, once the lair of gentlemen pirates. Then the murder is swept from his mind by the delivery of a crate filled with contraband rifles--and yet another telltale boot print left by its claimant. When a murder swiftly follows, Ben and Rose Vitrac, the woman he loves, fear the workings of a serpentine mind and a treacherous one only they can hope to thwart in time.
All too soon they are fugitives of color in the stormy bayous and marshes of slave-stealer country, headed for smugglers’ haunts and sinister plantations, where one false step could be their last toward a... Wet Grave .
Wet Grave
It’s 1835 and the relentless glare of the late July sun has slowed New Orleans to a standstill. When Hesione LeGros--once a corsair’s jeweled mistress, now a raddled hag--is found slashed to death in a shanty on the fringe of New Orleans’s most lawless quarter, there are few to care. But one of them is Benjamin January, musician and teacher. He well recalls her blazing ebony beauty when she appeared, exquisitely gowned and handy with a stiletto, at a demimonde banquet years ago.
Who would want to kill this woman now--Hessy, they said, would turn a trick for a bottle of rum--had some quarrelsome “customer” decided to do away with her? Or could it be one of the sexual predators who roamed the dark and seedy streets? Or--as Benjamin comes to suspect--was her killer someone she knew, someone whose careful search of her shack suggests a cold-blooded crime? Someone whose boot left a chillingly distinctive print . . .
His inquiries at taverns, markets, and slave dances reveal little about “Hellfire Hessy” since her glory days in Barataria Bay, once the lair of gentlemen pirates. Then the murder is swept from his mind by the delivery of a crate filled with contraband rifles--and yet another telltale boot print left by its claimant. When a murder swiftly follows, Ben and Rose Vitrac, the woman he loves, fear the workings of a serpentine mind and a treacherous one only they can hope to thwart in time.
All too soon they are fugitives of color in the stormy bayous and marshes of slave-stealer country, headed for smugglers’ haunts and sinister plantations, where one false step could be their last toward a... Wet Grave .
384 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 2002
28 people are currently reading
537 people want to read
About the author
Barbara Hambly
204 books1,580 followersaka Barbara Hamilton
Ranging from fantasy to historical fiction, Barbara Hambly has a masterful way of spinning a story. Her twisty plots involve memorable characters, lavish descriptions, scads of novel words, and interesting devices. Her work spans the Star Wars universe, antebellum New Orleans, and various fantasy worlds, sometimes linked with our own.
"I always wanted to be a writer but everyone kept telling me it was impossible to break into the field or make money. I've proven them wrong on both counts."
-Barbara Hambly
Ranging from fantasy to historical fiction, Barbara Hambly has a masterful way of spinning a story. Her twisty plots involve memorable characters, lavish descriptions, scads of novel words, and interesting devices. Her work spans the Star Wars universe, antebellum New Orleans, and various fantasy worlds, sometimes linked with our own.
"I always wanted to be a writer but everyone kept telling me it was impossible to break into the field or make money. I've proven them wrong on both counts."
-Barbara Hambly
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 73 reviews
May 12, 2017
This book was one of the most complicated of the Benjamin January books I've read thusfar.
We start out with the murder of one Hesione LeGros, a former plaçée whom Benjamin has not seen since he was a teenager. At the time, she boasted of being one of Jean LaFitte's many mistresses; she was wearing an incredible collar of topaz at the ball where January was playing the piano. Twenty-three years later, she's a broken-down prostitute found dead in the streets ... and no one cares.
The second murder victim is Artois St. Chinian, a free man of color who also happens to be the tutoring student of January's sweetheart, Rose Vitrac. When a hoped-for vacuum tube is misdirected and Artois receives a box of guns -- amid rumors of a slave rebellion -- things get complicated. To further complicate matters, Artois is the half-brother of Chloe St. Chinian -- who is now married to Henri Viellard, the protector of January's pregnant sister Dominique.
The third murder is at a downriver plantation, Avocet ... where one brother appears to have killed another. January's friend, Sheriff Abishag Shaw, is downriver investigating.
So, the plot is a heavy one. It doesn't take long to find out that even the icy, new Madame Viellard is not all that she initially seems. While January is trying to find out what happened to Hesione and Artois, he and Rose join forces with one of Lafitte's former lieutenants to look into matters.
Throw in a hurricane, and you have an incredible mix!
The subplots all come together in a "whodunnit" that completely blindsided me. The book kept me entertained and guessing throughout.
If you haven't already been reading these books, set in Romantic-era New Orleans, and you like a well-done historical mystery -- you need to get started! The books will stand alone, so you don't have to read them in order (I actually started in the middle of the series, as it turns out). Highly recommended.
We start out with the murder of one Hesione LeGros, a former plaçée whom Benjamin has not seen since he was a teenager. At the time, she boasted of being one of Jean LaFitte's many mistresses; she was wearing an incredible collar of topaz at the ball where January was playing the piano. Twenty-three years later, she's a broken-down prostitute found dead in the streets ... and no one cares.
The second murder victim is Artois St. Chinian, a free man of color who also happens to be the tutoring student of January's sweetheart, Rose Vitrac. When a hoped-for vacuum tube is misdirected and Artois receives a box of guns -- amid rumors of a slave rebellion -- things get complicated. To further complicate matters, Artois is the half-brother of Chloe St. Chinian -- who is now married to Henri Viellard, the protector of January's pregnant sister Dominique.
The third murder is at a downriver plantation, Avocet ... where one brother appears to have killed another. January's friend, Sheriff Abishag Shaw, is downriver investigating.
So, the plot is a heavy one. It doesn't take long to find out that even the icy, new Madame Viellard is not all that she initially seems. While January is trying to find out what happened to Hesione and Artois, he and Rose join forces with one of Lafitte's former lieutenants to look into matters.
Throw in a hurricane, and you have an incredible mix!
The subplots all come together in a "whodunnit" that completely blindsided me. The book kept me entertained and guessing throughout.
If you haven't already been reading these books, set in Romantic-era New Orleans, and you like a well-done historical mystery -- you need to get started! The books will stand alone, so you don't have to read them in order (I actually started in the middle of the series, as it turns out). Highly recommended.
October 14, 2011
The title of Barbara Hambly's novel comes from the expression that "White men come to Louisiana seeking treasure and find a wet grave." (This is paraphrased.)
Once again, Barbara Hambly draws on history to create factual episodes, atmospheric scenes, and bring to life colorful characters, and as usual, the story is fascinating. I enjoyed it all--up to a point. One character introduced was so delightful and captivating that when he was very abruptly and unexpectedly killed I stopped reading right there. This isn't a criticism of Ms. Hambly's writing, but rather, a credit to it, that she could create a character who would, in such a brief expanse of chapters, capture my interest so. I won't spoil the story by saying more about the murder, except to comment though the actual death isn't depicted and is recreated only during Benjamin's ongoing investigation, his grief and thoughts are as authentic as anyone's reaction to a sudden death could be. I did read the last chapter before setting the book aside, to determine how it ended. Suffice it to say all the tangled skeins were sorted out and all led to one source. The guilty were punished and the ending was bittersweet and Benjamin came away with the sad victory that his friend had been avenged and his own life was a changed for the better.
Wet Grave is the third novel in the Benjamin January series that I have read. If you want an authentic feel to your historical mysteries and an entertaining story, try this one. The usual cast of characters is there, still complex, still evolving, and getting better
July 17, 2012
So, we’ve got pirates, buried treasure, love, murder, birth, marriage, armed rebellion, leprosy, and a hurricane – shake all together and you’ve got yourself a good read.
What I didn’t like
Some of the plot I found hard to swallow, even with the author’s note at the end of, ‘no, really, this happened!’ Still, a fun read.
November 6, 2022
Normally I would give this 4 or 5 stars because I really liked the storyline. However, the writing style baffled me. Olympe and Shaw's speech patterns changed drastically from the last five books. The written dialogue of most characters dropped consonants and made a noticeable effort to phonetically sound less educated. Coarse and vulgar language peppered the secondary characters' speech and made its way even to Ben's mouth - something I do not remember ever happening before. Hannibal conveniently disappears at the start so the writer has no obscure non-English quotes from him to create a research nightmare in the decade before Internet searches. And New Orleans herself was absent. In the first five books, she's a character of her own, dragging you along in the sweltering heat and stench and I just didn't feel that in this book even though the author made a good effort. I can find no evidence that Hambly uses a ghostwriter, but this reads to me like fanfic. Very good fanfic, yes, but not original work. This is the 20th Hambly book I've read across multiple genres, and I am not sure she wrote it. I love her writing because it is dense and vibrant and full of words and concepts slightly alien and far more erudite than mine, and I felt NONE of that in this book. Maybe her publisher asked her to dumb it down. Maybe it was an experiment. Maybe she got sick and they didn't want the world to know. I don't know. I do know that I don't like the vulgarity in an author who has never needed it before to tell a compelling story. I don't like my hero Ben January being too angry to help a friend who has been there for him more than once. And I don't like a change for the worse from one of my favorite authors. I hope book 7 brings things back on track for all of us.
April 9, 2022
This is a most enjoyable series. It's good to see Benjamin January find someone to love after the loss of his wife, Ayasha, in Paris, of cholera. However, Rose has issues of her own. Having been raped, she is reluctant to become close to any man. Yes, she is attracted to Benjamin enough so that they spend hours together but when her fear of what could happen arises, she draws away from him. Be patient says his sister and he vows that he will, knowing that he cherishes this woman perhaps as much as Ayasha.
In this novel he loses a bright and talented young man to whom both he and Rose are close. He's the son that Benjamin has not had. When he is murdered, the two vow to find the murderer. And, the murder of a poor woman from his earlier life puzzles him so much that he is searching for whoever that may be. Coupled with a slave rising, a hurricane and fleeing through the deadly swamps, Rose and Benjamin look for answers. Finding them in unusual ways, they love strengthens even more. If you read this series, I think you will enjoy this one very much. I did.
In this novel he loses a bright and talented young man to whom both he and Rose are close. He's the son that Benjamin has not had. When he is murdered, the two vow to find the murderer. And, the murder of a poor woman from his earlier life puzzles him so much that he is searching for whoever that may be. Coupled with a slave rising, a hurricane and fleeing through the deadly swamps, Rose and Benjamin look for answers. Finding them in unusual ways, they love strengthens even more. If you read this series, I think you will enjoy this one very much. I did.
May 21, 2022
A well-defined and evocative setting is more than half the battle in creating a compelling work of fiction, and author Barbara Hambly has done a brilliant job of transporting the reader to a time and place long gone that can only be channeled through the medium of historical research. The place is New Orleans, Louisianna and its environs, circa 1835. The heat. The mud. The swamps. The mosquitos, alligators, and snakes. The sewage and the stench. The hovels and the villas. The hurricanes. It is all here, and the author does not try to sugar-coat it.
Against this backdrop, the lives of a rather lengthy cast of characters---slaves or former slaves, slave owners, mistresses of slaveowners, and local law enforcement---converge when the investigation of a series of murders reveals that the murders are all connected in some way.
While I really enjoyed this novel’s historical authenticity and setting, I am less enthusiastic about the story line. There is just too much going on all the time, without respite. Too many characters with convoluted relationships, and too many subplots to keep track of. It almost seems at times as if the author had several different stories to tell, couldn’t decide which one to use, and threw them all together into one big pot.
Not that this is a bad thing necessarily, especially for a writer of Hambly’s talent, but for me as a reader, I found it difficult, and even a bit stressful at times, to keep track of it all.
Against this backdrop, the lives of a rather lengthy cast of characters---slaves or former slaves, slave owners, mistresses of slaveowners, and local law enforcement---converge when the investigation of a series of murders reveals that the murders are all connected in some way.
While I really enjoyed this novel’s historical authenticity and setting, I am less enthusiastic about the story line. There is just too much going on all the time, without respite. Too many characters with convoluted relationships, and too many subplots to keep track of. It almost seems at times as if the author had several different stories to tell, couldn’t decide which one to use, and threw them all together into one big pot.
Not that this is a bad thing necessarily, especially for a writer of Hambly’s talent, but for me as a reader, I found it difficult, and even a bit stressful at times, to keep track of it all.
March 10, 2021
Barbara Hambly saves my work day, again. Audible just released this one, and I smashed that "use a credit" button so fast.
Probably not the best of the series, but still good. Here we find January trying to solve the murder of a youth who was like a son to him. January is deeply effected and finds himself unusually angry and disaffected.The only thing is, this is the first we've heard of the character. It didn't have the emotional impact that it might have if it didn't feel like it came out of nowhere.
That said, it was nice to have some forward movement in January's relationship with Rose, and in his sister's personal life (I'm honestly more interested in what happens to Dominique and her child and her useless but well-meaning protector...). I also found the leprosy side plot extremely interesting.
Probably not the best of the series, but still good. Here we find January trying to solve the murder of a youth who was like a son to him. January is deeply effected and finds himself unusually angry and disaffected.The only thing is, this is the first we've heard of the character. It didn't have the emotional impact that it might have if it didn't feel like it came out of nowhere.
That said, it was nice to have some forward movement in January's relationship with Rose, and in his sister's personal life (I'm honestly more interested in what happens to Dominique and her child and her useless but well-meaning protector...). I also found the leprosy side plot extremely interesting.
September 7, 2021
Wet Grave is set in 1830's New Orleans. There are slaves as well as FOC--Free Men (or women) of color. The FOC haveto tread carefully--always making certain to have their papers with them. Even so, the local authorities are likely to question them first in the case of any wrong doing (murder, robbery, trespassing etc., as well as being out after dark) Benjamin January is an FOC--highly educated as a doctor and musician in Paris. He cannot practice medicine in New Orleans, however. He comes across some murdered slaves and robberies, but gets no assistance from the local white authorities. While he is investigating clues, he and his educated sweetheart, Rose, travel to Grand Isle A hurricane erupts; plantation owners reappear after being missing for years and murders and deaths ensue. A very interesting book.
November 14, 2025
I dislike the trope where we drop in a brand new character in the middle of a series and write them as someone important to everyone and integrated into everything just so the author can get the big emotional/plot beats they want without having to do 'bad things' to someone that we actually care about and/or would miss in future novels. Can't risk trying to write a dozen more books with the same people we love to see! I get it.........but I don't like it. Between that and the fairy tale-ish ending* for some of the characters here, this one didn't work for me as well as others.
*I love most of these characters and REALLY want them to get good things but the stuff with Benjamin and his sister getting what they wanted in the last few pages was laughably bad.
*I love most of these characters and REALLY want them to get good things but the stuff with Benjamin and his sister getting what they wanted in the last few pages was laughably bad.
October 1, 2021
So, this (white) author who wrote a book set in antebellum Louisiana… vilifies a slave rebellion, focuses more on the “good” masters than on the inherent evil of slavery, and falls hard into the “brutish Black mean threatening delicate white flowers” trope repeatedly. Maybe she didn’t come at the subject with the intention of being racist, but that doesn’t make the end product any less racist. With all the research she clearly did, she could have done a better job at writing a story which wasn’t fantastically offensive, and YET…
Oh, and a non-Black person, even when authoring historical fiction, should simply never type out anti-Black slurs. There are definitely ways to avoid that.
Oh, and a non-Black person, even when authoring historical fiction, should simply never type out anti-Black slurs. There are definitely ways to avoid that.
August 11, 2021
If you like historical fiction and mysteries, this is the series for you. I truly think that Barbara Hambly is one of the finest writer’s of historical mysteries around. Set in early 1800s New Orleans, the series follows Benjamin January, a free black man, as he tries to live in a time where even legally being free was not a guarantee that you wouldn’t be sold back j to slavery. In this installment, the effects of a murder on a plantation come crashing into New Orleans and threatens to destroy all that January holds dear.
August 6, 2017
This was a solid entry in the series although it took a while for the story to grab me. It was more of an adventure than a mystery and, in a lot of ways, it felt like the end of the series as a lot of issues in the background story were resolved. It's not. There are more books, so I am curious how the author
moves forward.
moves forward.
December 2, 2019
A great read, very intense, with superb characters who continue to develop with time.
I sometimes feel the series is too intense - I hate to say it, but sometimes the author seems to be trying too hard to add drama and tribulation, and also trying too hard to insert famous historical characters into the story. Even so, well worth reading!
I sometimes feel the series is too intense - I hate to say it, but sometimes the author seems to be trying too hard to add drama and tribulation, and also trying too hard to insert famous historical characters into the story. Even so, well worth reading!
September 23, 2022
Benjamin January, free man of color in early 19th century New Orleans, returns with a tale of murders, possible treasures, and tales of the pirate, Jean Lafitte. Rose and he are caught traveling during a major hurricane and a possible slave revolt.
February 7, 2025
Excellent addition to this series. The twists at the end were engaging and surprising. As with the previous volumes, the realistic history, culture, and mores of the period add to the interesting story. Reader, Ron Butler, is perfect.
December 24, 2018
God I love this series. I love it I love it I love it.
January 11, 2020
Excellent as always. Very evocative of the times and the place.
April 12, 2020
Not only a complicated and interesting plot, but resolution to some ongoing character arcs. One of her best!
May 17, 2020
Don't let the complex web of characters and the slow pace of plot development early in the book put you off. The story builds and builds to a hurricane of a conclusion.
October 1, 2020
I think this is the best book so far, in the series. We get more of a glimpse into Ben and Rose's relationship and more local history. Very dramatic action sequences.
November 16, 2020
Oh, I'm so glad I remembered this series! This is another great read. Hambly really brings the world of the early 1800s southern Louisiana free people of color to life.
January 8, 2021
This book drags everyone into a hurricane to solve a woman's murder. Mystery, suspense and great characters.
February 7, 2024
I love this series, but I'm getting tired of "ben pretends to be a slave to solve a crime" as a basic plot element. Not as good as the music stories.
April 8, 2024
Love this series, easy to drop into. Lots of historical details to digest.
Want to read
May 20, 2024Unexpected ending, left me breathless.
December 27, 2023
Variations on a theme: the state of enslavement means that anything and anyone can be taken away from you at any time for any reason or for no reason at all.
September 15, 2015
"If ever I have earned your regard or affection, please come and engage in a few sleuth-hound tactics. I am at a complete loss to imagine how anyone but myself could have made quietus for young Fernando--who certainly deserved what he got--and if you do not prove otherwise I shall soon be forced to begin suspecting myself. Please come. I am in fairly desperate straights, though, as I said, I believe I shall be safe enough until the Days of the Dead."
It is not exactly the type of thing a man wants to read on his wedding day. Benjamin January, finally and despite all odds, is about to marry the lovely Rose Vitrac. This letter, from their old friend Hannibal Sefton, doesn't interrupt the plans, but it does direct where the new couple will be taking their honeymoon. In a previous book (Die Upon a Kiss) Hannibal met the lovely and seductive opera singer Consuelo, and ran away with her to Mexico City. This is where her father, a fairly powerful man with connections to Santa Anna lives a passionate and half mad existence. Hannibal had been staying with them (his violin playing is amazingly eloquent, and therefore Don Prospero requires him to stay and play for him.) when one evening he took two glasses filled with brandy from the sideboard and went in to the study to visit
Fernando, Prospero's son. Before he went in, people saw him take out a small bottle and pour the contents into one of the glasses. Fernando is later found dead. Hannibal declares that he is innocent, and Prospero, even though he doesn't believe him; no one does...but since Fernando was such a brute, everyone but Prospero is sort of happy about Fernando's demise...even Consuelo, Hannibal's lover, thinks Hannibal's guilty. Prospero has decided to wait until the Days of the Dead, when the spirits come back, and ask his son what he wants done with the violinist.
Hannibal a murderer? Long time readers of this series won't be able to believe it. I don't...but then I thought the only flaw with the book before this one (Wet Grave) was the fact that Hannibal wasn't in it. Benjamin and Rose don't believe it, either...and they turn their considerable skills to tracking down the clues and trying to figure out exactly who and why. It is a classic locked room case in some ways...Fernando was locked in the study, the only other person who went in was a well trusted servant. The challenges for the couple are a little different than usual. As a free man of color in New Orleans, Benjamin usually has to abide by a careful set of rules. There are still rules...and prejudices...in Mexico City, but the problem (as long as Benjamin and Rose are careful to keep a certain show of having money) is more with them being outsiders than anything else. That, and keeping the trust of a man whose madness seems insidious...Prospero's obsession with Aztec deities flavors the background, forming a sagacious counterpoint to the upcoming Catholic festivals. We also get a very detailed look at life for these people...from the food, and the way the upper-class eschew the native cuisine, to the enforced slavery that poverty and lack of jobs has created, to the strange, almost hysterical way some of the women devote themselves to the church. When we see the sacrifice of a young daughter to a convent, we can draw a parallel to the sacrifices of a virgin to some Aztec god, and wonder if the human race has really changed all that much over time.
While the background adds a delicious undertone of creepiness and realism, it is the mystery itself that really holds the reader. Hambly doesn't take any easy outs...the people you think have to be guilty are not, the people you think have to hold the perfect clue don't. The only things you do know is that Hannibal has to be innocent, Benjamin and Rose January are more than up to this task, and that the days of the dead are creeping up fast.
This series is a constant treat. Hambly brings into play incredible characters, tricky mysteries, and richly drawn historical backgrounds to make a consistent, intelligent mystery.
It is not exactly the type of thing a man wants to read on his wedding day. Benjamin January, finally and despite all odds, is about to marry the lovely Rose Vitrac. This letter, from their old friend Hannibal Sefton, doesn't interrupt the plans, but it does direct where the new couple will be taking their honeymoon. In a previous book (Die Upon a Kiss) Hannibal met the lovely and seductive opera singer Consuelo, and ran away with her to Mexico City. This is where her father, a fairly powerful man with connections to Santa Anna lives a passionate and half mad existence. Hannibal had been staying with them (his violin playing is amazingly eloquent, and therefore Don Prospero requires him to stay and play for him.) when one evening he took two glasses filled with brandy from the sideboard and went in to the study to visit
Fernando, Prospero's son. Before he went in, people saw him take out a small bottle and pour the contents into one of the glasses. Fernando is later found dead. Hannibal declares that he is innocent, and Prospero, even though he doesn't believe him; no one does...but since Fernando was such a brute, everyone but Prospero is sort of happy about Fernando's demise...even Consuelo, Hannibal's lover, thinks Hannibal's guilty. Prospero has decided to wait until the Days of the Dead, when the spirits come back, and ask his son what he wants done with the violinist.
Hannibal a murderer? Long time readers of this series won't be able to believe it. I don't...but then I thought the only flaw with the book before this one (Wet Grave) was the fact that Hannibal wasn't in it. Benjamin and Rose don't believe it, either...and they turn their considerable skills to tracking down the clues and trying to figure out exactly who and why. It is a classic locked room case in some ways...Fernando was locked in the study, the only other person who went in was a well trusted servant. The challenges for the couple are a little different than usual. As a free man of color in New Orleans, Benjamin usually has to abide by a careful set of rules. There are still rules...and prejudices...in Mexico City, but the problem (as long as Benjamin and Rose are careful to keep a certain show of having money) is more with them being outsiders than anything else. That, and keeping the trust of a man whose madness seems insidious...Prospero's obsession with Aztec deities flavors the background, forming a sagacious counterpoint to the upcoming Catholic festivals. We also get a very detailed look at life for these people...from the food, and the way the upper-class eschew the native cuisine, to the enforced slavery that poverty and lack of jobs has created, to the strange, almost hysterical way some of the women devote themselves to the church. When we see the sacrifice of a young daughter to a convent, we can draw a parallel to the sacrifices of a virgin to some Aztec god, and wonder if the human race has really changed all that much over time.
While the background adds a delicious undertone of creepiness and realism, it is the mystery itself that really holds the reader. Hambly doesn't take any easy outs...the people you think have to be guilty are not, the people you think have to hold the perfect clue don't. The only things you do know is that Hannibal has to be innocent, Benjamin and Rose January are more than up to this task, and that the days of the dead are creeping up fast.
This series is a constant treat. Hambly brings into play incredible characters, tricky mysteries, and richly drawn historical backgrounds to make a consistent, intelligent mystery.
June 24, 2024
I read the next two books in this absorbing series starring Benjamin January, musician, Paris-trained surgeon and seeker of justice in the violent, dazzling world of 1830s New Orleans. As a "free man of color," January is able to mostly chart his own path during a turbulent time in his native city. But as a dark-skinned Black man, January must also endlessly negotiate the racism he faces from white society and the colorism from the free "colored" society most of his family is anchored to. All this while making a living, trying to progress in his relationship with the brainy Rose Vitrac and helping bring the right person to justice rather than the handiest enslaved scapegoat or poor laborer.
"Die Upon a Kiss" took us to the New Orleans opera season of 1835 and the drama, literally and figuratively, of competing companies and international politics. It was a crowded plot but, as usual, Hambly immersed the reader into what a stage performance in those days would have involved (fake and real fire play big roles). But "Wet Grave" was the best book of the series so far, in my opinion. Pirate treasure, romance, the threat of a slave rebellion and the near-resolution of two major plot lines that started two books back. Justice was served and at least two (three?) couples appear to be on their way to happiness of some sort. And--huzzah--is January finally going to be able to live less hand-to-mouth?
Hambly is always spot-on when she brings us to historic New Orleans, and I love the way she dives into various elements of the culture in each book (ex: the demimonde/placee system, voodoo, sugar harvesting, opera, etc.). I also appreciate how the relationships between characters are refracted through the realities of the time, even as they connect with the sensibilities of today. For example, January struggles mightily in these two books to empathize with Rose as a rape victim and how that might impact her ability to accept him, as well as how she might view him being protective (or overly protective) of her. Obviously, Hambly doesn't use the language and psychology of today. But having January draw on his own experiences of powerlessness as a formerly enslaved child, she leads him to a fairly modern place of acceptance and understanding. And it all makes sense in the context of the time. This is such a pro move by a historical mystery writer. All the stars for these moves especially!
I have the next two books already downloaded and am looking forward to seeing where this series goes!
"Die Upon a Kiss" took us to the New Orleans opera season of 1835 and the drama, literally and figuratively, of competing companies and international politics. It was a crowded plot but, as usual, Hambly immersed the reader into what a stage performance in those days would have involved (fake and real fire play big roles). But "Wet Grave" was the best book of the series so far, in my opinion. Pirate treasure, romance, the threat of a slave rebellion and the near-resolution of two major plot lines that started two books back. Justice was served and at least two (three?) couples appear to be on their way to happiness of some sort. And--huzzah--is January finally going to be able to live less hand-to-mouth?
Hambly is always spot-on when she brings us to historic New Orleans, and I love the way she dives into various elements of the culture in each book (ex: the demimonde/placee system, voodoo, sugar harvesting, opera, etc.). I also appreciate how the relationships between characters are refracted through the realities of the time, even as they connect with the sensibilities of today. For example, January struggles mightily in these two books to empathize with Rose as a rape victim and how that might impact her ability to accept him, as well as how she might view him being protective (or overly protective) of her. Obviously, Hambly doesn't use the language and psychology of today. But having January draw on his own experiences of powerlessness as a formerly enslaved child, she leads him to a fairly modern place of acceptance and understanding. And it all makes sense in the context of the time. This is such a pro move by a historical mystery writer. All the stars for these moves especially!
I have the next two books already downloaded and am looking forward to seeing where this series goes!
August 1, 2010
Not usually a fan of historical novels, I hesitated somewhat when I picked up a copy of Wet Grave by Barbara Hambly, but as fate would have it, I did buy the book, and I am ever so grateful I did. The story takes place in 1830s New Orleans, and highlights a time in history when justice was an elusive luxury, especially if one was a freed colored citizen.
Benjamin January, the well educated son of a placeé – a former slave kept as a mistress by the man who bought and freed her – who is now a surgeon and musician, is summoned by his sister when an old drunk prostitute is found slashed to death in her own home. When January arrives on the scene, he recognizes the dead woman as Hesione LeGros, a once beautiful society mistress he had the opportunity to befriend many years before. Nobody but January seems to care about the old woman’s death, and he is encouraged by many to abandon the case once it becomes apparent authorities are not willing to become involved.
January, however, is haunted by his own need to discover the truth and, supported by Rose Vitrac, the woman he loves, he embarks on a journey of no return, in which the hunter becomes the hunted, and some questions are best left unanswered.
When murder strikes closer to home and leaves January heart-broken and angry, he and Rose are on the run, colored fugitives seeking sanctuary in the unforgiving depths of stormy bayous. Will they discover who murdered Old Hessie, or will they also fall prey in a game of cat and mouse?
Barbara Hambly has masterfully created a story one can get lost into, with a plot as thick and edgy as the sultry heat swallowing the Deep South in mid-summer. The historical references are well developed and even sprinkled with delightful encounters; among those, the meeting of January with Marie Laveau, the notorious queen of voodoo, as he seeks guidance on his quest.
The novel is extremely descriptive, and rich details are freely dispensed to allow the reader the luxury of being transported through time and space. Wet Grave is a great read for anyone passionate of historical fiction, for mystery lovers and for those interested in southern fiction with an edge into reality.
Benjamin January, the well educated son of a placeé – a former slave kept as a mistress by the man who bought and freed her – who is now a surgeon and musician, is summoned by his sister when an old drunk prostitute is found slashed to death in her own home. When January arrives on the scene, he recognizes the dead woman as Hesione LeGros, a once beautiful society mistress he had the opportunity to befriend many years before. Nobody but January seems to care about the old woman’s death, and he is encouraged by many to abandon the case once it becomes apparent authorities are not willing to become involved.
January, however, is haunted by his own need to discover the truth and, supported by Rose Vitrac, the woman he loves, he embarks on a journey of no return, in which the hunter becomes the hunted, and some questions are best left unanswered.
When murder strikes closer to home and leaves January heart-broken and angry, he and Rose are on the run, colored fugitives seeking sanctuary in the unforgiving depths of stormy bayous. Will they discover who murdered Old Hessie, or will they also fall prey in a game of cat and mouse?
Barbara Hambly has masterfully created a story one can get lost into, with a plot as thick and edgy as the sultry heat swallowing the Deep South in mid-summer. The historical references are well developed and even sprinkled with delightful encounters; among those, the meeting of January with Marie Laveau, the notorious queen of voodoo, as he seeks guidance on his quest.
The novel is extremely descriptive, and rich details are freely dispensed to allow the reader the luxury of being transported through time and space. Wet Grave is a great read for anyone passionate of historical fiction, for mystery lovers and for those interested in southern fiction with an edge into reality.
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