On any given day in 1883 New Orleans, at 416 Royal Street, you will find a black door and a discreet bronze plaque engraved with “S&H Investigations”, should you need such services. Within, you will be offered café au lait and beignets, and taken down a softly-lit passageway to meet Fiona Shanahan, a pretty young Irishwoman, and her associate, Michael Henley, a gentleman with a hard face but a kind smile. You will leave assured your troubles are in good hands. However, while charming, neither Fiona, Henley or S&H are quite who they purport to be.
For three years, Fiona and Henley have taken excellent care of their clients at S&H, which is the public facade of Julius DeMonte Enterprises, serving clients rich and poor alike, no matter how trivial, fantastical or even illegal, their case may be. At their masquerade Halloween ball, Voodoo’s Fete Gede, the Day of the Dead, Julius DeMonte returns from his summer showboat cruise down the Mississippi bringing his old friend, the mysterious Comte Saint Germain.
The Comte is looking for an old lover who disappeared many years ago. Fiona and Henley set out to find her but instead discover a new and horrifying threat taking root among the plantations in the post-war Louisiana countryside, taking them and their friend Marie Laveau, the Voodoo Queen of New Orleans, on a dark and dangerous journey into the world of the dead.
Morris’s portrait of New Orleans is a tantalizing mix of shadows and glitz, and she skillfully captures the area’s rich cultural heritage and underlying darkness, from the mouthwatering Creole dishes and evening sheen of the St. Louis Cathedral to the city’s stringent social hierarchies and voodoo magic. Her meticulous research is evident throughout, giving the novel an historical accuracy that grounds the supernatural elements and pulls readers deeper into the story’s richly textured world—a world underpinned by well-drawn, memorable characters. Fiona is both compelling and resilient, brimming with courage that propels the narrative, and her interactions with the mysterious Comte de Saint Germain and loyal Henley bring both tension and depth to this enigmatic tale.
From sharp, authentic dialogue to the novel’s stunning atmosphere, Morris delivers evocative imagery and lavish sensory details that bring vivid life to every scene, particularly the otherworldly battle Fiona must undertake—with help from her friends and the legendary Voodoo Queen, Marie Laveau—to stop Annette’s reign of terror. Themes of power, corruption, and redemption coil throughout, adding emotional weight and thought-provoking subtext, and Morris’s well-timed twists will keep readers hooked. The seamless blend of historical fiction and supernatural intrigue makes this installment one to savor.
Takeaway: A supernatural showdown threatens 19th-century New Orleans.
Comparable Titles: Deborah Harkness’s Black Bird Oracle, Rena Rossner’s The Sisters of the Winter Wood.
Production grades
Cover: B-
Design and typography: A-
Illustrations: N/A
Editing: A-
Marketing copy: A
