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Wet Grave by Barbara Hambly
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Wet Grave (original 2002; edition 2003)

by Barbara Hambly

Series: Benjamin January (6)

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373768,029 (3.86)8
Fiction. Suspense. Thriller. Historical Fiction. HTML:In such stunning novels of crime and character as Die Upon a Kiss, Sold Down the River, and A Free Man of Color, Benjamin January tracked down killers through the sensuous, atmospheric, dangerously beautiful world of Old New Orleans. Now, in this new novel by bestselling author Barbara Hambly, he follows a trail of murder from illicit back alleys to glittering mansions to a dark place where the oldest and deadliest secrets lie buried . . .

Wet Grave

Itâ??s 1835 and the relentless glare of the late July sun has slowed New Orleans to a standstill. When Hesione LeGrosâ??once a corsairâ??s jeweled mistress, now a raddled hagâ??is found slashed to death in a shanty on the fringe of New Orleansâ??s most lawless quarter, there are few to care. But one of them is Benjamin January, musician and teacher. He well recalls her blazing ebony beauty when she appeared, exquisitely gowned and handy with a stiletto, at a demimonde banquet years ago.

Who would want to kill this woman nowâ??Hessy, they said, would turn a trick for a bottle of rumâ??had some quarrelsome â??customerâ? decided to do away with her? Or could it be one of the sexual predators who roamed the dark and seedy streets? Orâ??as Benjamin comes to suspectâ??was her killer someone she knew, someone whose careful search of her shack suggests a cold-blooded crime? Someone whose boot left a chillingly distinctive print . . .

His inquiries at taverns, markets, and slave dances reveal little about â??Hellfire Hessyâ? since her glory days in Barataria Bay, once the lair of gentlemen pirates. Then the murder is swept from his mind by the delivery of a crate filled with contraband riflesâ??and yet another telltale boot print left by its claimant. When a murder swiftly follows, Ben and Rose Vitrac, the woman he loves, fear the workings of a serpentine mind and a treacherous plot: one only they can hope to thwart in time.

All too soon they are fugitives of color in the stormy bayous and marshes of slave-stealer country, headed for smugglersâ?? haunts and sinister plantations, where one false step cou
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Member:bellegabrielle
Title:Wet Grave
Authors:Barbara Hambly
Info:Bantam (2003), Edition: Reprint, Mass Market Paperback
Collections:Your library
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Wet Grave by Barbara Hambly (2002)

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» See also 8 mentions

Showing 1-5 of 7 (next | show all)
God I love this series. I love it I love it I love it. ( )
  the_lirazel | Apr 6, 2020 |
1835 in New Orleans. A former jeweled mistress of a pirate, Hesione LeGros, has come down in the world and is found murdered. Benjamin January's friend, Shaw, is investigating a murder on a plantation and it seems one brother has killed another brother. Then Ben meets the young mixed race young man his friend, Rose, is tutoring and he turns up dead. Ben and Rose end up running for their lives to Grand Terre Islands and figure out the plot that involves giving guns to slaves for an uprising to allow the people behind it rob the plantations and find the buried treasure.
  taurus27 | Apr 22, 2016 |
I really love this series, and this is a great book therein. It is very satisfactory how everything played out here. ( )
  cissa | Sep 20, 2011 |
Put the words "historical" and "mystery" into one sentence and I'm there. This one didn't disappoint me in the least, even though it's #6 in a series I haven't read. I did lose a bit by not reading 1 through 5 but it wasn't drastic. Ms. Hambly plunked me down in pre-Civil War New Orleans. It was a gritty, dirty, damp and impoverished way of life for most Africans living there. I was disgusted, as I should have been. In spite of that, I was attracted to the characters, all of whom eke out livings and deal with their restrictions. The main character must also deal with the lifestyle and still solve the murder of a friend. Not exactly a mystery even though it's the thread that binds the story together. Not exactly a love story even though it's an integral part of the story. Whatever you want to call it, it was a swampy piece of history I never want to live in, but will read about at the next available opportunity. Books 1 through 5 and 7 are on my wishlist!
  maedb | Jan 4, 2010 |
Showing 1-5 of 7 (next | show all)
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» Add other authors (1 possible)

Author nameRoleType of authorWork?Status
Barbara Hamblyprimary authorall editionscalculated
Becker,Royce M.Cover artistsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Butler, RonNarratorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed

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For Jill and Charles
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The only time Benjamin January ever actually exchanged words with Hesione LeGros was when they were both hiding behind a piano in a New Orleans hotel hoping they wouldn't be massacred by pirates.
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'You know what they say of white men in Louisiana,' January told the boy. 'That they come here seeking their fortunes, but all they find is a wet grave.'
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(Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)
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Fiction. Suspense. Thriller. Historical Fiction. HTML:In such stunning novels of crime and character as Die Upon a Kiss, Sold Down the River, and A Free Man of Color, Benjamin January tracked down killers through the sensuous, atmospheric, dangerously beautiful world of Old New Orleans. Now, in this new novel by bestselling author Barbara Hambly, he follows a trail of murder from illicit back alleys to glittering mansions to a dark place where the oldest and deadliest secrets lie buried . . .

Wet Grave

Itâ??s 1835 and the relentless glare of the late July sun has slowed New Orleans to a standstill. When Hesione LeGrosâ??once a corsairâ??s jeweled mistress, now a raddled hagâ??is found slashed to death in a shanty on the fringe of New Orleansâ??s most lawless quarter, there are few to care. But one of them is Benjamin January, musician and teacher. He well recalls her blazing ebony beauty when she appeared, exquisitely gowned and handy with a stiletto, at a demimonde banquet years ago.

Who would want to kill this woman nowâ??Hessy, they said, would turn a trick for a bottle of rumâ??had some quarrelsome â??customerâ? decided to do away with her? Or could it be one of the sexual predators who roamed the dark and seedy streets? Orâ??as Benjamin comes to suspectâ??was her killer someone she knew, someone whose careful search of her shack suggests a cold-blooded crime? Someone whose boot left a chillingly distinctive print . . .

His inquiries at taverns, markets, and slave dances reveal little about â??Hellfire Hessyâ? since her glory days in Barataria Bay, once the lair of gentlemen pirates. Then the murder is swept from his mind by the delivery of a crate filled with contraband riflesâ??and yet another telltale boot print left by its claimant. When a murder swiftly follows, Ben and Rose Vitrac, the woman he loves, fear the workings of a serpentine mind and a treacherous plot: one only they can hope to thwart in time.

All too soon they are fugitives of color in the stormy bayous and marshes of slave-stealer country, headed for smugglersâ?? haunts and sinister plantations, where one false step cou

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