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Murder at the Pontchartrain
by Kathleen Kaska
Murder at the Pontchartrain
Cozy Mystery (Humorous)
6th in Series
Setting – New Orleans, Louisiana
Anamcara Press LLC (June 15, 2023)
Paperback : 280 pages
ISBN-10 : 1941237940
ISBN-13 : 978-1941237946
Synopsis
Private detective Sydney Lockhart and her boyfriend/partner, Ralph Dixon, are headed for New Orleans to tie the knot—again. Having been stalled on their first attempt by some unfinished business dealing with their last case, Sydney and Dixon are now in the Pontchartrain Hotel in the Big Easy. While their marriage license rests at the courthouse for its 24-hour waiting period, they stroll to the French Quarter to visit Rip Thigbee, Sydney’s friend from her previous investigation. Rip owns Finder of Lost Souls, a detective agency dealing with the spirits of murder victims whose cases remain unsolved.
When Sydney and Dixon are at Rip’s office, they learn he went missing after investigating the disturbance of local businessman Frank Threadgill’s crypt. Voodoo Queen Frida Mae, whose shop is located next to Thigbee’s, fears that bad juju led to Threadgill’s death and has now infiltrated Rip’s business. Upon returning to their hotel room, to plan their next step, they find Threadgill’s wife, Mildred, waiting for them. Unfortunately, Mildred has been murdered. The police haul the couple down to the station. Their alibi checks out, but they are told to stick around for a few days. Soon a hotel housemaid is murdered, and this time Dixon is arrested, and Sydney is on her own to find the killer.
Hearing of their predicament, Sydney’s bubble-headed cousin, Ruth, and Sydney’s young charge, twelve-year-old Lydia LeBeau, show up to lend an unwelcome hand. Ruth goes undercover as a chef at the hotel. Lydia, who can talk the Pope into letting her assist in saying Mass, talks her way into the famous Pat O’Brien’s bar, where the locals are eager to share what they know.
After interviewing Mildred Threadgill’s family, Sydney begins her investigation by delving into Frank Threadgill’s mysterious past and discovers that he isn’t who he claims to be. The business he once owned was a cover involving an organization of WWII war criminals and the local Ku Klux Klan. As Sydney gets closer to the truth, she is attacked and left for dead in a nearby swamp. With the help of a few jaunty Cajuns, Sydney makes it back to the city with enough evidence to get Dixon released. Ruth thinks she knows who the killer is. Lydia has her own theory and is convinced Ruth is wrong. Sydney doesn’t know who to trust, convinced that every witness she’s interviewed has lied. But her most shocking realization is that the biggest liar is her own future husband.
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Enjoy this peek inside:
On the way back to Rip’s car, my mind spun a web that ran in different directions. My thoughts were interrupted when Rip let spew a few expletives and took off running. I looked around expecting to see one of the Klansmen. Then I saw Rip with his hands on the hood of his car and his head slumped to his chest.
“All goddamn four of them,” he said. He slipped his flashlight from his pocket and I saw the car’s running boards and fenders nestled in the tall grass. All four tires had been slashed. “What the hell do we do now? We’re at least three miles from the edge of the city.”
“We walk. Stay close to the roadside in case we see headlights in either direction. After what we just saw, I don’t want to meet anyone traveling this road.”
“I can barely see my hand in from of my face and the storm is coming in.”
“That’s good for us. No sane person would be out driving in this weather. Turn off the flashlight. Let’s go. If we hurry we should be off this road and in the city in about an hour.” I turned up the collar of my jacket and pulled my hat down over my ears.
The deluge started. Streak lightening lit the way. Twice we dove off the road upon seeing headlights in the distance. Both times the cars turned off before reaching us. The third time, however, landed us thigh-deep in water. The ditch along the road had become a swift-moving river. The wind turned to gale force and Rip’s hat disappeared into the brush. He looked like a drenched Frankenstein making his way slowly, careful not to trip. Every few yards, I had to stop and empty my boots of water. Even with Dixon’s future looking bleak and the prospect of me becoming a widow before I married, I thought of Dixon and me walking into Pete’s Western Footwear in Austin when we returned home. The image of him in those black cowboy boots, made me giggle. Rip turned and looked at me. I’m sure the sight of me is what made him giggle. Before I knew it, we were doubled over with laughter.
“I don’t see what’s so funny,” I said.
“Neither do I,” Rip said.
It was five minutes before we could catch our breaths and compose ourselves. “Look,” I pointed. Up ahead was the glow of New Orleans.
“Maybe we can grab a cab to your hotel,” Rip said.
“Well, good luck with that.”
It was almost two when we reached the Pontchartrain. The same doorman was on duty from yesterday when I came in wearing swamp. This time he just opened the door and looked the other way. I could almost hear his thoughts, swamp woman found her a fella.”
“What do we do now, Sydney?”
“I have a plan.”
“I was afraid of that.”
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About Kathleen Kaska
Kathleen Kaska is the author of the awarding-winning mystery series: the Sydney Lockhart Mystery Series set in the 1950s and the Kate Caraway Animal-Rights Mystery Series. Her first two Lockhart mysteries, Murder at the Arlington and Murder at the Luther, were selected as bonus books for the Pulpwood Queen Book Group, the country’s largest book group. She also writes mystery trivia. The Sherlock Holmes Quiz Book was published by Rowman & Littlefield. Her Holmes short story, “The Adventure at Old Basingstoke,” appears in Sherlock Holmes of Baking Street, a Belanger Books anthology. She is the founder of The Dogs in the Nighttime, the Sherlock Holmes Society of Anacortes, Washington, a scion of The Baker Street Irregulars. Watch for Murder at the Pontchartrain: the 6th Sydney Lockhart Mystery in June 2023.
Author Links: Website / Twitter / Facebook / Instagram / BookBub / Amazon
Purchase Links – Anamcara Press – Amazon
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