Book details

Book description

Autumn 1940--A black woman named Louise Blanc is found tortured to death in her Gentilly home. Sergeant Israel Daggett can't make anything of it until a Treasury agent arrives on the scene to let him know that Louise Blanc was the girlfriend of a bootlegger-turned-counterfeiter named Luis Martinez. On the other side of town, Wesley Farrell is looking for Martinez for his own reasons, but soon finds that his friend is up to his neck in hot water. He's on the run from the boss of his gang--a blonde Spaniard named Santiago Compasso--after having run off with the key to the operation--the painstakingly constructed plates that produce twenty and fifty-dollar bills that are so good they've got the boys at Engraving and Printing jealous. Compasso's worried, not just because his operation's loused up, but also because he has someone of his own to answer to. Now Farrell's in a contest with Compasso to find his friend and discover the reason for his doublecross before Compasso's killer--a mysterious unseen psycho named Dixie Ray Chavez--can get there ahead of him. In 1940 New Orleans, Dixie Ray Chavez informs his client Santiago "Spanish" Compasso that he killed Luis Martinez's girlfriend Linda Blanc without obtaining the information. Dixie feels that either Linda had no idea where her paramour is hiding and where he concealed the missing counterfeit plates, or she was one hell of a woman. Either way, Luis remains missing and Spanish remains upset because he wants the plates back now to print new twenty and fifty dollar bills. Dixie sets in motion a whole new plan to force Luis to surface. Negro Detective Squad police officer Israel Duggett leads the investigation into Linda's brutal murder. The Treasury Department has interest in the case too because of the victim's connection to Luis and a flow of counterfeit money throughout much of the southeast. Meanwhile Father Maldonar asks Luis' friend private investigator Wesley Farrell to find the missing man because back in El Paso Luis' mother is dying from cancer. Wesley begins to make inquiries into the whereabouts of his former mentor without knowing that Luis is the focus of a manhunt from both sides of the law. The fourth Farrell historical mystery is an exciting investigative tale that brings to life 1940 New Orleans. The engaging story line makes the era seem very real with regional tidbits that intermingle quite effortlessly into the main plot. The cast is powerfully described while adding ambiance and depth to the authentic feel of Robert Skinner's superb story. Robert Skinner has degrees in history (Old Dominion University) and library science (Indiana University) and studied creative writing at the University of New Orleans. He's widely known for his non-fiction writing on the career of African-American novelist Chester Himes and on the American hard-boiled crime story. He's the author of two previous Wesley Farrell novels, Skin Deep, Blood Red, (1997) and Cat-Eyed Trouble (1998). He makes his home in New Orleans where he's University Librarian at Xavier University of Louisiana.