Casting Bones by Don Bruns

302 Pages
Publisher: Severn House, Severn House Publishers
Release Date:

Fiction, Mystery, Thriller, Suspense, New Orleans, VooDoo

In New Orleans, Solange Cordray is a Voodoo Priestess following in her mother’s footsteps. Quinton Archer is a detective recently located from Detroit. He and his partner, Adam Strand, were assigned the murder investigation of Judge David Lerner. His body was found shot and thrown in the river. Antione Duvay, a young juvenile offender, Lerner previously sentenced was charged with the murder although Archer did not believe him to be guilty.

Archer has his own issues to deal with. He is still trying to find who killed his wife Denise in Detroit. He had one brother arrested as part of a drug ring. Another brother is on the run and is stalking Archer. Solange is getting information from a nonverbal patient at the retirement house where she volunteers. She gives the information to Archer, but he has a hard time believing her.

The book has a steady pace, the characters are somewhat developed, and it is written in the third person point of view. This is the first book in the series so I am sure the characters will develop more through the series. In this book, Archer has a hard time fitting in and spends a lot of time dwelling on Detroit. If you like books about New Orleans, Voodoo with a mystery, you will enjoy this book.

The author tried to give us a strong sense of place in regards to the Nola setting, unfortunately it's just copious scenes in restaurants and bars talking about the food and drink being eaten by the characters or mentioning the corruption and crime.

More time could have been spent on the characters and making us care about what happens to them. The author throws in a lightly described backstory for why Quentin is now in New Orleans, but it didn't make me care about him and when a pivotal moment from his past plays up, I was wishing the opposite result happened. The character of Solange was also woefully underwritten and we never truly understand her motivation. She literally could have been left out of the story and it wouldn't have had any impact. Lots of potential, perhaps the author is planning to develop it more through the next two books, but I needed more now to hook me. There's another character who provides Quentin with information, just works to get it, gives it and seems to expect nothing in return. What? Nothing???
Another character just gives up after something goes sideways...just gives up? We never find out the back story on another character, good guy, bad guy, definitely part bad guy, but who is the individual actually working for? Not enough answers to satisfy.

Then there the whole reason behind the murders. Who did not see this coming from the start? I knew the motive instantly.

I was able to finish the book, but was (obviously) unsatisfied by many things.

I received this book a few years ago from Netgalley in exchange for my honest review.

This is a new series featuring Detective Quentin Archer and Solange Cordray, a psychic and practitioner of the darker arts of voodoo.

Archer is a former Homicide Detective in Detroit. Someone murdered his beloved wife there. He suspects it was either his brothers ..who are highly involved in drugs and drug dealing... or a crooked cop. He felt a need to get away ..so here he is in New Orleans.

He has been asked to lead the investigation into the murder of a very well-known judge. He finds crooked police ..even his own partner .... a homeless pickpocket, Samuel Jackson, a bartender who knows much more than he should and the very beautiful Solange.

Solange comes from a long line of voodoo practitioners. She volunteers at a home for dementia patients, where her mother resides. Reading the minds of those under her care, she learns there is a secret organization known as Krewe Charbonerrie is behind the murder of the judge. Krewe Charbonerrie is made up of the wealthiest, most powerful men in New Orleans .. and not even the cops want to know anything about them.

Seemingly appearing out of nowhere, Solange approaches Archer with the information she has. Being from Detroit, he originally dismisses her claims .. until a second judge is murdered ...and then a third.

Voodoo .. to me... brings visions of chants and curses and wild dancing in the middle of the night. Thoughts of zombies, magical religious practices. Dolls with pins stuck in them. Boy! was I wrong!

This book drew me in from the very beginning. I like Archer's backstory, giving me insight to the kind of man he is. He's honest, one of the good guys. He's suffered losses and even though he doesn't see it, it has made him a stronger person. Solange is a young practitioner, still learning the ropes since her mother is not healthy enough to help her sort her feelings. She is drawn to Archer, because she senses the goodness in him.

Parts of this book are very suspenseful, and I found myself caught off guard when certain things happened ... and since I am not a psychic ... I never saw it coming. It's an involved mystery that is well written and which flows seamlessly from character to character.

I look forward to seeing this series continued.

Many thanks to the author / Severn House / Netgalley for the digital copy of this most compelling book. Opinions expressed here are unbiased and entirely my own.