A riveting historical mystery set in an alternate 1900 where the South won the Civil War
In the sultry summer of 1900, New Orleans Detective Jean-Baptiste Delacroix faces the most impossible case of his career-one that will force him to choose between his badge and his brother.
When a European merchant is found crucified on Andrew Jackson's statue in Jackson Square, Jean-Baptiste recognizes the elaborate staging as more than simple murder. The victim is arranged with disturbing precision, surrounded by Confederate currency and cryptic Latin phrases. As a Creole detective navigating the treacherous waters between Confederate authority and European commercial interests, Jean-Baptiste knows this killing could ignite the powder keg of tensions threatening to tear the city apart.
But nothing prepares him for the truth he uncovers: his own brother Michel-once a devout Catholic seminarian-has become the instrument of a century-old vengeance.
Venus, an ancient Vodoun priestess with memories stretching back to slavery, has waited nearly one hundred years to balance the scales of justice. The Delacroix family once promised freedom to her daughter, then sold her downriver to die in the cane fields. Now Venus has found the perfect weapon in Michel, transforming his grief over his wife's death into religious fanaticism, twisting Catholic devotion into justification for mass murder.
As bodies multiply-each killing timed to a saint's feast day, each victim connected to New Orleans' web of corruption-Jean-Baptiste faces an agonizing choice. His investigation reveals that Michel plans to destroy St. Louis Cathedral during the city's grandest celebration, with hundreds of Confederate officials, European merchants, and innocent worshippers inside. To stop the attack, Jean-Baptiste must betray his brother. To save Michel, he must compromise everything his badge represents.
Caught between the Sons of Divine Justice-Confederate extremists who have infiltrated the police department-and Venus's intricate conspiracy that manipulates all sides, Jean-Baptiste tampers with evidence, misdirecting investigations, and descends into the moral darkness he once fought against. His superiors demand results that serve political narratives. Federal investigators pursue their own ambitions. And Michel, the brother he loves, has become a stranger who speaks of divine judgment while preparing an act of terrorism.
With St. Louis Day approaching and time running out, Jean-Baptiste must navigate New Orleans' shadowy world-from Marie-Claire Laveau's Botanica to Venus's bayou sanctuary, from the cathedral's ancient tunnels to the city's halls of power-searching for a way to save both his brother's soul and countless innocent lives.
MURDER IN NEW ORLEANS is a richly atmospheric historical thriller that explores the impossible choices between duty and family, justice and mercy, in a city where the past never truly dies and vengeance can wait a century for the perfect moment to strike.
Perfect for fans of alternate history, historical mysteries, and morally complex detective fiction set against the vivid backdrop of turn-of-the-century New Orleans-a city of saints and sinners, where three cultures collide and ancient grudges demand modern blood.
Contains mature themes including violence, religious conflict, and historical references to slavery and racism.
Gerald was born in 1937 in Chicago. As a child he was an avid reader of How to Draw books. One day at age 11 he wandered over to the Grown-up Books section of the public library and pulled down a picture-book of gothic cathedrals. He fell in love with their beauty. His mother used to give him the white paper in which the butcher had wrapped meat. Finding a large piece of plywood, he became "the only kid on his block" who used to sketch up gothic cathedral façades. He began studying Architecture in 1955 and worked his way thru college, earning a Bachelor of Architecture degree from the University of Illinois in 1966. He is proud to say that he never took a penny of student loans. He received an Illinois license in 1972. Sometime after that he began conducting genealogical research on his ancestors. He speaks Polish, German, and Spanish to some extent. He has a gift for language.
Gerald has undergone three intensifications of faith in his life: one at age fourteen, when, as a child prodigy he became the object of three years of abuse by his classmates. He endured and graduated. The second was at age twenty-two, when it appeared he was about to die. He told himself, "If I'm gonna die, I'm gonna go out in a blaze of glory", and joined volunteer groups that kept him active every night of the week. The third was in 1982, when a concurrence of events, including the loss of a job, left him "down and out", and God gave him a new image of Himself as a very loving Father.
After this last intensification in 1982 began to feel the call to do something more directly to promote Jesus' kingdom on earth. He began to explore religious life. It saddened him to see the majority of adult Catholics coasting thru life on a few simplistic ideas that they picked up in early life. In 1992 he sold a condo in Chicago and used the money from the sale for education. He entered Franciscan University of Steubenville, Ohio in September, 1992. Once there he responded to a call by Fr. Michael Scanlon TOR and entered Holy Apostles Seminary for older men in Cromwell, CT. in fall, 1993. He spent 3 1/2 months doing door-to-door evangelization in Ceres and Modesto, CA in summer, 1994 while on assignment at St. Jude's parish, Ceres. He concluded that religious life was not for him and returned to Franciscan U. and earned a Master of Arts degree in Theology and Christian Ministry in 1996.
Unable to find work with his degree, and running out of money, he found a job as an archit...
