Murder in the Rue Ursulines: A Chanse MacLeod Mystery Paperback – October 1, 2008

Like many residents in post-Katrina New Orleans, Chanse MacLeod is still a bit "shell shocked" by the experience, but keeping up his private investigations business, with help from friends and referrals.One such referral, to track down the source of some threatening e-mails, develops into a murder investigation. The target of the e-mails is Freddy Bliss, the male half of a Hollywood A-list couple, who had relocated to New Orleans to help with the rebuilding. When his ex-wife ends up murdered, bludgeoned to death with her Emmy statuette, suspicion turns initially to Chanse, who had interviewed her earlier that day and actually handled the murder weapon, and then to Freddy, when Chanse testifies that he spotted someone resembling the actor leaving his ex's home shortly after when the murder likely took place.It's a case of mistaken identities, deceptions, expendable pawns, delusions and grudges, which involve Chanse, his best friend Paige, as well as Venus and Blaine, his friends from the New Orleans police department, in a twisted, well-written story from one of the masters of the gay mystery genre. Herren's words and style expertly and realistically paint the characters, locations and circumstances, using wit and suspense to keep us turning the pages, until he reveals how it all comes together for a realistic and satisfying ending. Bravo! Five spicy Cajun stars out of five!!

Herren tells a very good, character-driven story. Will begin the next in the series soon. (Makes me want to go to New Orleans!)

Four down and three more to go. So bummed once I'm done with the series.... I am pleased, beyond words, that the author has enough respect for his gay characters, not to resort to pornography. I see a laziness in many of today's author's to simply add filling to books short on creativity and imagination. Wish there were more writers like Greg Herren.

An internationally famous Hollywood couple moves to New Orleans and uses their celebrity to aid in the recovery post-Katrina. When one begins receiving e-mails threatening to expose past evil deeds our gay, pot-smoking Private Eye is called into the case--and just might be a suspect in a murder! This is a very fast read for a Herren book and perceptive readers will have the solution long before our hero does (makes us feel a bit superior for once). Entertaining without being demanding.

There were a lot of twists in this that were quite interesting. The killing stemmed from an incident that happened many years before and the perceived wrong helped fuel the hatred and bitterness of an unbalanced psychotic. I was able to figure out who the killer was before it was revealed, so the ending wasn't quite a surprising as it might have been, however I did enjoy it.

Greg Herren is a always a great read and does not disappoint. With murder in the Post Katrina Era of New Orleans. You get a true since of what is happening to the people there right after returning to their homes after the storm. You also get to dig into the local political family to find that the grass is not always greener on the other side. I always love these books and hope that you find this a great read on the beach this summer.

This was certainly one of Greg Herren's best stories. The twists and turns and subject are great. However, the editing and proofreading are atrocious! Did the editor ever bother reading it after it was fully ready? It became disappointingly distracting.Five stars for Greg.Two stars for Julie.

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