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Waterproof Justice
In its heyday, Basin Street was the Park Avenue of prostitution. In 1947, Minnie Tucker runs the last great sporting house in the French Quarter. Ruby Smith comes to New Orleans with a new husband and high hopes, only to find her marriage is a sham. She needs a job and a place to live and Minnie needs an honest bookkeeper, so she hires Ruby who easily manages both sets of Minnie’s books. Ruby is just settling into her new life when she sees Anthony Scapesi, son of Don Scapesi, head of the local Mafia, kill a man. As the only witness, Ruby knows she must leave town.
She ends up in Waterproof, a backwater on the Mississippi where she thinks she can hide. True to her Choctaw heritage, Ruby is a woman of few words. However, she is drawn into small town life. Bitsy Verner, a self-appointed matchmaker wastes no time in introducing her to Sheriff Nate Houston, a widower.
Nate has recently returned from WWII with a piece of shrapnel in his knee. He just wants peace and quiet to heal his mind and body. However, keeping peace in Waterproof isn’t easy. First there is Bud Garvey, the town troublemaker. Then there’s Luther. He is a permanent fixture in the sixth grade and no one expects him to amount to much. But when Nate hires him, we learn Luther has an uncommon ability to see straight to the heart of a problem.
On the home front, Nate’s daughter, Carrie, is coping with becoming a teenager. And finally there’s Miss Laura, his mother-in-law who—like Bitsy—is vitally interested in Nate’s love life. Nate is attracted to Ruby but prefers to do things on his own terms.
When Bud Garvey’s pickup is stolen, he insists that Nate arrest Arlan Walker although it’s clear the boy was just in the wrong place at the wrong time. Arlan refuses to identify his brother as the driver and the case ends up in court. In a fit of anger, Judge Swetman commandeers the trial and sentences Arlan to 15 years in Angola, the bloodiest maximum-security prison in America. A brutal killing at the prison prompts Arlan to escape during a hurricane. He is presumed dead and when Luther and Carrie find him, they persuade Nate to help the boy.
In the meantime, Anthony Scapesi follows Ruby to Waterproof and attempts to silence her. Ruby returns to Minnie’s. In an effort to find her, Tony captures Luther and beats him severely. Tony demands an answer and finally Luther gives him one. However, rather than giving Tony what he wants, it turns out to be his undoing.
With Arlan safe and Tony gone, Nate goes to New Orleans to meet Ruby at Minnie’s and arrives on the night Louis Armstrong comes back to Basin Street where he delivered coal to houses in The District when he was a boy. It is a night no one will ever forget.
She ends up in Waterproof, a backwater on the Mississippi where she thinks she can hide. True to her Choctaw heritage, Ruby is a woman of few words. However, she is drawn into small town life. Bitsy Verner, a self-appointed matchmaker wastes no time in introducing her to Sheriff Nate Houston, a widower.
Nate has recently returned from WWII with a piece of shrapnel in his knee. He just wants peace and quiet to heal his mind and body. However, keeping peace in Waterproof isn’t easy. First there is Bud Garvey, the town troublemaker. Then there’s Luther. He is a permanent fixture in the sixth grade and no one expects him to amount to much. But when Nate hires him, we learn Luther has an uncommon ability to see straight to the heart of a problem.
On the home front, Nate’s daughter, Carrie, is coping with becoming a teenager. And finally there’s Miss Laura, his mother-in-law who—like Bitsy—is vitally interested in Nate’s love life. Nate is attracted to Ruby but prefers to do things on his own terms.
When Bud Garvey’s pickup is stolen, he insists that Nate arrest Arlan Walker although it’s clear the boy was just in the wrong place at the wrong time. Arlan refuses to identify his brother as the driver and the case ends up in court. In a fit of anger, Judge Swetman commandeers the trial and sentences Arlan to 15 years in Angola, the bloodiest maximum-security prison in America. A brutal killing at the prison prompts Arlan to escape during a hurricane. He is presumed dead and when Luther and Carrie find him, they persuade Nate to help the boy.
In the meantime, Anthony Scapesi follows Ruby to Waterproof and attempts to silence her. Ruby returns to Minnie’s. In an effort to find her, Tony captures Luther and beats him severely. Tony demands an answer and finally Luther gives him one. However, rather than giving Tony what he wants, it turns out to be his undoing.
With Arlan safe and Tony gone, Nate goes to New Orleans to meet Ruby at Minnie’s and arrives on the night Louis Armstrong comes back to Basin Street where he delivered coal to houses in The District when he was a boy. It is a night no one will ever forget.
Kindle Edition
First published March 1, 2015
8 people want to read
About the author
Grace Hawthorne
13 books3 followersI am Yankee born and Southern raised. Born in New Jersey, grew up in Louisiana, lived in Texas, Germany, New York City and now Georgia.
Ever since I got my first byline in junior high, I’ve been a writer, mostly freelance. I’ve written advertising copy for septic tanks, the libretto for an opera, lyrics for Sesame Street and worked as an editor for Time-Life Books and a national storytelling magazine. At one point, I was full time-free lance writing the book and lyrics for children’s musicals. One of them, It’s Cool in the Furnace. According to the publisher, it is the longest selling children’s’ musical in sacred music history.
My first novel, Shorter’s Way, is a political love story about rambunctious Georgia politics in the 1920s. My second novel, Waterproof Justice, is a misadventure about 1940s madams, Mafia, mischief and mayhem in Louisiana.
Currently I am fixin’ to commence to get ready to start to think about my next book. Stay tuned.
Ever since I got my first byline in junior high, I’ve been a writer, mostly freelance. I’ve written advertising copy for septic tanks, the libretto for an opera, lyrics for Sesame Street and worked as an editor for Time-Life Books and a national storytelling magazine. At one point, I was full time-free lance writing the book and lyrics for children’s musicals. One of them, It’s Cool in the Furnace. According to the publisher, it is the longest selling children’s’ musical in sacred music history.
My first novel, Shorter’s Way, is a political love story about rambunctious Georgia politics in the 1920s. My second novel, Waterproof Justice, is a misadventure about 1940s madams, Mafia, mischief and mayhem in Louisiana.
Currently I am fixin’ to commence to get ready to start to think about my next book. Stay tuned.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
May 5, 2015
Ms. Hawthorne's second novel of Southern characters caught in the web of their times and a southern location that is just far enough away to be exotic is great entertainment.As in her first, Shorter's Way, her characters shine and play out the story with believable clarity.I'm one reader who is grateful Ms. Hawthorne gave up her day job to write. I look forward to her next book.
April 30, 2015
Thoroughly enjoyed Waterproof Justice. There is a very interesting character you have not run into in other reading. Plus a hurricane, murder, a little romance, and a poetry writing sheriff. Rural Louisiana becomes at once a friendly and foreboding place. New Orleans of the '40's isn't too bad either! You won't regret this choice for a good read.
June 3, 2015
From the first sentence, this book had me hooked. I could smell, feel, taste and be fully immersed in the settings, drama and emotion of this sweeping story. The characters were all fully realized, the plot was believable, yet with enough twists to keep you guessing! I loved Shorter's Way---this was wonderful, too.
June 26, 2015
This is a great story with a lot of suspense build-up! I'm also really hungry after reading it with such great descriptions of food! Please read this book!
May 10, 2025
This is a great story. As much as I enjoyed her first novel, Shorter’s Way, this is my favorite. The plot lines are seamlessly integrated, her descriptions put you in Waterproof, LA and New Orleans in the 1940’s and her characters seem like old friends. Even the hurricane takes on an eerie malevolence. Writing doesn't get any better than this.
I was sad to lose Willie Shorter and Laine in her first novel, but now I have Nate and Ruby, Bitsy, Miss Laura and, best of all, Luther. Keep it up Grace and give us another.
I was sad to lose Willie Shorter and Laine in her first novel, but now I have Nate and Ruby, Bitsy, Miss Laura and, best of all, Luther. Keep it up Grace and give us another.
June 16, 2015
I sat down to read a chapter of Waterproof Justice before getting on with my chores for the day. The day passed with chores undone, but the book finished. Grace Hawthorne creates characters the reader cares about; so you want to know what happens to them. She is also cleaver with plot developments that keep you curious about what comes next. Loved the poetry of the sheriff. A poetry writing sheriff? How often do we find one of those? Definitely looking forward to Ms. Hawthorne's next book.
May 25, 2015
Waterproof Justice is first of all a very good yarn. Second, it is set in an infrequently limned historical period and place: the immediate post-WWII of small town and rural Louisiana, with a dash of New Orleans. Therefore it is informative as well as entertaining. Finally, it has well-drawn characters, both good and evil, who will stay with you long after the book is finished. I can recommend it without reservation.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews