Cover Image: Sinner, Saint or Serpent

Sinner, Saint or Serpent

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Member Reviews

Whilst the writing was good I couldn’t find myself connecting to the characters well enough to care about the plot. Descriptive writing was outstanding but the emotions underneath interactions felt forced

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This was fabulous. I loved all the descriptions of New Orleans, makes me want to visit even more now!
So many twists and turns, at times difficult to keep up with but we’ll worth it. Really well written, hope to read more by this author soon.

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this was such a fun read, I was really pulled in from the cover and then further with the mystery in the book, The characters were great and I really enjoyed reading the story.

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AMAZING. A classic whodunnit with remnants of Agatha Christy. I stayed up until 3 AM to finish the book. I just had to know the ending. I absolutely loved the characters and the ending was immaculate. I cannot wait to see more from this author, hopefully all thriller/mystery.

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This mystery will keep you guessing until the end and leave you wanting more.. I highly recommend for all mystery readers.

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Sinner, Saint or Serpent by John Anthony Miller is an historical thriller set in New Orleans and has an almost Jack the Ripper like murder along with voodoo and various other elements of New Orleans culture which was fantastic to read.

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EVen if I loved the setting I couldn't connect to the characters and the story fell flat.
Not my cup of tea.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine.

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Sinner, Saint or Serpent by John Anthony Miller offers a significantly interesting investigative fictional storyline. I particularly enjoyed the description of the different characters that make one feel close to them. The author from the start created an environment of suspense reading and keeps the reader wonder what may happen next. Besides the questions, it allows one to think investigative and critical about the different plots. The book provides an interesting and enjoyable read, without too many complex writing styles. In addition, it provides some insight into the New Orleans social-political environment. I recommend this book to any person who enjoys investigative novels with an extra twist of people behaviour and relationship dynamics.

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Couldn't read past the first five chapters. It is so full of anachronisms I just couldn't read it.
And a part from this, I found the writing and organisation of the story quite amateurish.

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This novel had all the components of a great read - the setting in New Orleans, the time period of the 1920s, not one but three femme fatales but it just didn't quite do the trick... The plot and the writing were very repetitive, going in circles, and it felt it could have been much shorter. Great ending though!

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What a story, if I could give this book 10 star rating I would. Once again Mr. Miller confirms why he is one of my favourite authors.

New Orleans, 1926

August Chevalier, a ruthless businessman with questionable morals is found murdered, investigative reporters Justice Harper and Remy Moral are determined to flush out the killer. Working alongside the police, they narrowed down the list of suspects to three:

The Sinner, Blaze Barbeau, a real estate magnate with a checkered past

The Saint, Lucinda Boyd, a pillar of New Orleans society

The Serpent, Belladonna Dede, a well-known voodoo queen

One potential suspect:

A mafia gangster: Nicky the Knife

This is a story rich in content written with a cinematic perspective approach. It is vividly told through rich dialogue. The narrative is incredibly fast-paced and the prose sails smoothly throughout making this one of those stories next to impossible to put down. It is so filled with tension I was trying so hard to figure who may be the killer. Justice and Remy did such a good job interrogating each one of the suspect that it was hard to pin point the guilty. They all had a reason to do the deed. Mr. Miller is definitely a master of plot twists and he threw some doozies to surprise us. I was on the edge of my seat from page one and so captivated trying hard to figure where the author was going with his story. Would we finally have the killer identified….or would we be kept guessing. By the epilogue Mr. Miller give us the most mammoth twists of all and what an ending….I never saw it coming.

The author created sub-plots for the other characters what essentially happens in their life when they are not part of the main plot. Serenity Dupree, a sultry jazz singer is one of the secondary players along with Barbeau, Boyd, DeDe and Knife’s contribution all make a delightful reading adventure. Of course we also have the police investigators trying to solve the case.

A special note as for the main characters:

Justice is a man of deep morals, very diplomatic hard not to like him. Remy is a complete darling, she is one to speak her mind with absolutely no filter whatsoever. At times Justice wanted to strangling her….Their interaction makes an excellent read.

I love this mystery it provided all the entertainment one can wish for. What a page turner you provided Mr. Miller, well-done.

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I'd like to thank Netgalley for sending me a copy of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review.

'Justice' Harper is a journalist who always wants to do the right thing. One of the most hated persons in the city is found dead with a bullet between his eyes and the police have an array of suspects they are investigating who were in the vicinity and had motive.

What happens when a journalist turns detective? For starters, he can write stories on each of the suspects and investigate into the motives. He can help out the police (incompetent as more than 2 characters reiterate) with leads worth investigating. Conjecture alternate theories to get a reader base on the hook. That's exactly what the book does well.

The investigation is more through interviews and stories than any forensic evidence. The goodness in each of the suspects only exemplifies the villian's badness. We even have non-suspects regretting they didn't put an end to this vile creature.

The book has multiple twists - made not by circumstance, but by hidden information - an author's privelage of sort. In a Close room mystery you would want to have all the information to yourself and then solve it. Also, we listen to multiple theories which is closer to a journalist procedure.

A decent read.

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I don’t usually enjoy the mystery/crime genre, so I wasn’t sure I’d like this. But I surprisingly, I did.
It made me want to guess “who did it”, and it also made me want to try this genre.
It was indeed fast paced and easy to get into, with a lot of twist and turns to keep the reader on edge and wondering

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A book that takes one for a ride around and round the block. Murder is the game but with so many suspects and twists the story certainly meanders along with plenty of turns. It isn't until one gives up on finding who was responsible that the truth is told.
A great twist, a great read which really kept me very entertained with a surprise at the end.

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