Mortal Sins

ISBN 10: 0788749471 ISBN 13: 9780788749476

Synopsis

1920s New Orleans: a city of bootleg gin, hot jazz, gangsters and voodoo. Slave shacks and swamps form the backdrop for gritty crime and dark, dark secrets...

On a summer night in 1927, in a slave shack on his family estate, infamous lawyer Charles St Claire has been found brutally murdered. In the big house stands his wife. Remy Lelourie is a hometown girl made good – a glamorous Hollywood filmstar and one of the most beautiful women in America. She is covered in bruises and soaked in her husband’s blood.

As in any small town, suspects, lawyers and the police all know each other – and all of them know the prime suspect. Many, including the investigating detective, are her former lovers. As each works to his own agenda, the layers of deceit, entangled relationships and false pretensions build into a delicious and dark portrayal of unforgettable people, in a time and place like no other.

About this title

Review:

A stunning thriller with a rich cast of characters and one of the most complex, intriguing protagonists since James Lee Burke introduced Dave Robicheaux, Mortal Sins stakes out a piece of the same territory. New Orleans is the setting, and the atmosphere in the city that care forgot is sexy, rich and sultry--not unlike movie goddess Remy Lelourie. Lelourie once loved and left a young man who grew up to be homicide cop Daman Rourke, a brooding hero who's never forgotten Remy or forgiven her for betraying him. Rourke hasn't seen Remy since she married Charles St. Claire, present owner of the Lelourie ancestral mansion, which is haunted by a century-old crime as shocking as the brutal stabbing of Charles St. Claire. A crime with which his wife, Remy, is charged. Only Daman Rourke knows she's capable of murder; after all, he's seen her do it before. What's more he kept silent when she arranged the death to look like a suicide. Tortured by the memory of their affair, her betrayal and his abiding passion for her, he sets out to prove Remy's innocence. In so doing, he is drawn into a web of family secrets, tangled ancestry and southern (in)justice.

With a backdrop of bootleggers, blues, absinthe and cocaine, Williamson seasons a thick Louisiana gumbo with all of the right ingredients. Set in the Roaring Twenties, this standout debut has a decidedly contemporary attitude and enough sex, sin and mystery to keep the reader enthralled long after the last page has been turned. --Jane Adams

Review:

‘Sexy, dangerous, beautifully written – a powerful story.’
James Patterson

‘An evocative, moody, sensuous tale of lust, murder, mayhem and betrayal. Mortal Sins is as smooth as a mint julep, as rhythmic as the blues. You will soak it all in, despite the heat.’
USA Today

About this edition

• ISBN 10: 0788749471
• ISBN 13: 9780788749476
• Binding: Unbound