Book Review: Blood on the Bayou by DJ Donaldson

Blood on the Bayou
Author: DJ Donaldson
Series: Andy Broussard/Kit Franklyn Mystery Book 2
Publication: Astor + Blue Editions (October 31, 2014)

Description: Don Donaldson brings us to the famous French Quarter with our favorite dynamic detective duo in this gripping thriller. New Orleans’s chief medical examiner Andy Broussard and his assistant, criminal psychologist Kit Franklyn, set off to investigate a series of violent serial murders. Examinations of the victims have led them to discover that each one’s throat had been ripped out with two tools: a garden fork and something unrecognizable. Something no man could have made, but a myth could have. Could it be that a werewolf has descended upon the city?

My Thoughts: This second Andy Broussard/Kit Franklyn mystery includes a series of deaths in New Orleans that appear to be done by a werewolf. The case takes Andy back to the town where he grew up and has him interacting with his two boyhood best friends. Kit is debating leaving New Orleans and moving to Shreveport to be with her boyfriend - until she meets a new man.

Strong points of this book are the setting in New Orleans and the town where Andy and Kit go to investigate. The heat, humidity, and rain are almost like characters. The setting is so well described that I felt like I was there in the swamps. Teddy, Kit's new love interest, is an alligator farmer and we get lots of information about that career and about alligators too.

This book was written in 1991 and is being re-issued by Astor + Blue. It is easy to tell that it isn't contemporary. No cell phones. Andy uses Polaroids to take pictures as he is doing his autopsy. The computers being used by the meteorologists that Kit consults as she is building her theory about when the killer will kill again. All of these place the story firmly in the past.

The story was interesting and fast-paced. I stayed up well past my bedtime because I had to know who the murderer was and how the story played out. Fans of atmospheric mysteries will enjoy this one.

Favorite Quote:

She passed that block of time bu watching on old black and white musical, marveling at the truly ludicrous routines, which included one in which the chorus line performed on the wing of an airplane for an audience at a posh party on the ground. How those watching below were able to see the dancers through the wing of the plane was a real puzzle.

I got a review copy of this one. You can buy your copy here.