Barbara Hambly's books are hard for me to review. It's stupid and annoying that bad books are so much easier to blather on about than the good ones, but (as I say probably too often) it's easier to pinpoint why something is not good than why it is. And honestly, all my reviews of Ms Hambly's books start looking pretty much the same - amazing characters, superb settings I feel I could step into (but wouldn't necessarily want to), and the sort of prose I would sacrifice a body part to be able to produce. (Depending on the body part.)

These characters ... As a friend, I want Benjamin January to have an easy, happy life - but if that were the case, then as a reader I would be bereft. Rose is either someone I want as my best friend, or who I want to be (or both). And Hannibal Sefton is one of my favorite characters in fiction. Minou, Olympe and her family, Henri, Mme Janvier, and of course Abishag Shaw are all practically kin by now.

The racial and class dynamics of 1800's New Orleans (and its environs) are an inexhaustible setting for these stories to play out. The intricacies of rank and position and society peculiar to this place and time make even a fairly common trope - infatuated rich gentleman sets out to marry a young woman less than a third his age - fresh and intriguing. No one can wage class warfare like the ladies of New Orleans, wherever they fall in the pecking order. And no one can wend their way through all of that intricacy and intrigue, keeping their heads with an often sardonic air while all those around them are losing theirs, better than Benjamin and his (dare I say) Scooby Gang.

I miss Barbara Hambly's non-vampire fantasies - but as long as there are Ben January books, the world is a better place.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher, from whom I received a copy of this book for review.

Cold Bayou is the 16th Benjamin January mystery from author Barbara Hambly. Released 31st May 2018 by Severn House, it's 256 pages and available in hardcover, paperback, and ebook formats.

I've been with this series from the beginning and can't think of many other series in any genre which have maintained strength and, frankly, still have remarkably astute things to say after more than a dozen books. This series hasn't ever disappointed. The characterizations are astute and the dignity, intelligence, and humor of Dr. January are inspiring and (to me, a middle class white woman who is also a medical professional) humbling. I really like these characters and feel invested in them.

Ms. Hambly is a gifted and prolific author with several series in several genres. All of her books which I've read are well plotted and written and Cold Bayou is no exception. It seems to be meticulously and accurately researched and the portrayals of the brutality and casual cruelty and racism are stark.

I was previously unaware of the legal intricacies involved in consolidation and control in farming in the south during that period. There is graphic violence and sexual violence in the book. The language is mild (hell, damn, and such). This is a dark and melancholy book, but so well written and the denouement resonated with me for a long while after turning the last page.

I sincerely hope that the author has many more stories for us.

Five stars.
Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes

In 1830s New Orleans, Benjamin January must fight for not only his freedom but for the freedom of his entire family in Hambly’s 16th installment of the Benjamin January mystery series. January, a freed black man trained as a doctor and a musician, agrees to play the piano at the wedding of Veryl St.-Chinian despite the ominous warning of his sister Olympe, a voodooiene, that nothing good will come of him being at the plantation, Cold Bayou. Veryl’s family is firmly set against the 67-year-old man marrying Ellie Trask, an Irish girl 50 years his junior with sordid past. When Ellie finds a severed chicken foot sewn into her dress—a sure sign of voodoo magic—she is certain that someone wants her dead. Then, the preacher goes missing and Ellie’s servant, Valla, claims that a debt was never repaid on a loan that freed January’s family. When Valla turns up dead, all eyes fall on January.

Cold Bayou is a meticulously researched story that delves into the harsh reality of living as a freed black man among slaves in the Deep South where the shade of your skin matters so very much. Hambly’s writing is intricate and detailed, almost to the point that some readers will find that it hinders the pace. Encompassing a large cast of characters, this is not the book with which to jump into the series, as readers will struggle with keeping straight the often-crooked family trees. With an atmosphere as heavy as the bayous themselves, this is a mystery with an imaginative twist that will satisfy fans of Hambly’s series and readers who wish to explore the interplay between cultures in antebellum New Orleans.

Really enjoyed this - Hambly always does a great job of incorporating history into her mysteries, providing insight into this country's lesser-known (and at times denied) dark past. At times this series has lagged a bit, but with this latest, she is back up to par.

Death in the water, flood, and fire

Wow! This story is indelibly etched on my brain with its deep characterizations, multi-layered mysteries, historical information, and incredible world-building… everything from the flow of the river to the race and class divisions. Benjamin January, a free Black man, is asked to play at the wedding of an older wealthy Creole, Veryl St-Chinian, who is marrying a destitute but beautiful young Irish slut who may have her eye on his money. But many in his family have unabashed expectations, and Ellie Trask won’t make it to the altar if they have their way. From missing clergy to murdered maids, Cold Bayou lays a tangled trail from plantation to dead-huts, through flood and fire. There’s death in the water, just as January’s sister, Olympe, predicted.

January finds himself walking the divide between whites and blacks, freemen and slaves, as he investigates a murder. There is so much here about the social structure and racism within old New Orleans, from the founding of the city itself forward to January’s day, where mixed-race ladies are trained to make their living as rich men’s mistresses. From the French Creoles to the black overseers and gang-bosses, each class and role plays its appointed part, and all play into the dance that January must perform to do justice to the dead and save the living. The violence explodes when the maid is murdered, January is accused of the murder and left to die, chained in a flooded building set ablaze, and the savagery escalates in the disparate opulence and poverty of the plantation. Love and hatred blur class and race divides.

Brilliant read! Give yourself time to sit down and enjoy the experience for several hours, because this is not your mother’s cozy. It’s not a fun, fast, painless read. This is a deep and thoughtful novel that deserves to be savored. Highly recommended to anyone that loves historical novels, mysteries, or insights into racism and inequality in America.

I received this book as an Advanced Reader Copy (ARC) through NetGalley. My opinions are my own.

A fascinating and atmospheric mystery with a fascinating cast of characters and an interesting setting.
The plot was interesting, full of twists and turns, and kept me guessing till the end.
I had some problems with the patois used and I think I'd be better to have read the other instalments before reading this one.
I love Barbara Hambly's work and this one didn't disappoint me.
Recommended!
Many thanks to Severn House and Netgally for this ARC

The dialect in which this book is written - I assume the author was trying to be more authentic but all it really did was make this book extremely difficult to read and unenjoyable. I could not even get past the 2nd chapter. I was really looking forward to this one, as I lived in NOLA for many years, I enjoy reading books that take place in Louisiana.

The sixteenth book in the Benjamin January series.

I realize it's been a while since I posted about Ben January, so let me take a moment to give an overview of the series. They are some of my favorite books of all time, and I can't recommend them highly enough. Set in New Orleans in the 1830s, they focus on Benjamin January, a free black man trained as a surgeon and classical piano player. Despite the 1830s being pre-Civil War, at the time New Orleans boasted a large population of 'gens de couleur libres ', or free people of color. It was a category of (often but not always) mixed race people, often (but not always) descendants or family members of women who served as mistresses to white men. In Spanish and French colonies, mistresses and children were (often but not always - do y'all get the sense that it's hard to put lines around this kind of thing yet?) freed and given money or employment, whereas in British colonies the color line tended to stay stronger, and mistresses and children were (often but not...) kept in slavery. This resulted in a system where British colonies had two groups of people – black and white – but French and Spanish ones had three – black, white, and "colored" – where the middle group was seen as distinct but containing some qualities of both the others. In New Orleans itself, this became codified in the "placée" system; interracial marriage was illegal, and so women of color in long-term romantic/sexual relationships with white men were described as being "placed" with him.

Anyway, all of this is just background to fun, well-written murder mysteries. Benjamin January was born into slavery, but freed as a young child when his mother became a placee. As a result, he was raised in relative privilege – highly educated (he speaks something like seven languages, including Latin), interested in music theory and scientific advances and Shakespeare, sent to France for schooling in medicine – but has never gotten over the violence and terror of his childhood, particularly his fear of potentially losing anyone he cares about at any time – and indeed, after he was freed he never saw his father (who remained enslaved) again. Ben's in his 40s in the books, when he stands 6'3 with broad shoulders to match and is very dark-skinned; this means everyone who meets him automatically assumes he's a field slave rather than a free man, which doesn't exactly help him get over his fears. Ben is such a fantastic main character; he's smart and cynical but with a deeply good heart (he literally saved puppies as a kid!), he loves meeting people and talking to them, he's snarky and sweet and gentle and also frequently gets to have adventure scenes like punching a giant alligator in the middle of a hurricane. Since the series are mysteries, he's repeatedly called on to investigate unusual deaths. At first this is usually to prove his own innocence – or that of a relative or close friend – who's been accused of murder, but as the books go on he's often asked to help simply because he now has a reputation for it.

The books are remarkable not just for Ben himself, but for his community. My favorites of the other characters are Rose and Hannibal. Rose is a free woman of color, born into that status but who has suffered in her own way, as a woman who more interested in math and microscopes than fashion or flirting. She's determined to open a school for girls of color, despite several setbacks. She's gawky and wears glasses and Ben is head-over-heels in love with her. Hannibal is their best friend, the only white man in New Orleans who isn't insanely racist (though even he makes mistakes sometimes). He works as a musician with Ben, and is clearly from some sort of aristocratic background, but has chosen to change his name and spend his days homeless and addicted to alcohol. He's also dying from TB (well, "dying"; 16 books and counting and he's still around), which means he is the designated woobie of the series, frequently being poisoned or kidnapped so that Ben has someone to rescue.

Ben's family is also fundamental to the series, including his mother (a heartless, awful person, but a stone-cold survivor down to her bones), his sister Olympe (a Voodoo Queen, and voodoo is taken seriously as a religion in these books, not just oooh zombies), and his half-sister Dominique (also a placee, she comes off as flighty and gossip-obsessed, but she's clever and loyal to a fault). Another important character is Abishag Shaw, a white police lieutenant who is sympathetic to Ben's attempts to find real justice and often provides off-the-books assistance.

The series is everything you could ask for in terms of diversity. As is obvious above, most of the characters are black or mixed race, but there are also important Native Americans, Muslims (including Ben's first wife), Latin@s, Jewish people, and gay characters. Hambly also uses the setting to discuss issues of discrimination that fall along the lines of gender, colorism, religion, language, class, disability, nationality, and more. The historical detail of 1830s New Orleans has obviously been incredibly well-researched and is depicted in great detail. But it's also just so much fun! Ben, Rose, and Hannibal in particular are immense nerds who spend a lot of time joking around with one another, there's adventure, there's suspense, there's immense amounts of competence porn, there's hurt/comfort, there's everything you could want. But the series is especially good for Found Family; Ben's efforts to gather and protect a community around himself is the central arc of the series, and breaks my heart every time. I mean, when it's not giving me joy.

In summary: READ THEM PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE

Anyway. Back to Cold Bayou.

The sixteenth book in the Benjamin January series, Cold Bayou begins with the engagement of Veryl St-Chinian – sixty-seven, eccentric, and hermit-like – to an eighteen-year-old illiterate Irish former prostitute. The St-Chinian family is, unsurprisingly, extremely upset by this, since everyone assumes Ellie, the bride, is a gold-digger. That would still be Veryl's choice, but due to vagaries of French colonial law, the family holdings are operated more like a shareholder-owned company than individual plantations. As one of the few still-living members of the oldest generation, Veryl holds a one-third vote over any matter relating to the family business, and as his wife – or widow – Ellie will hold an equal vote. Which means she could, theoretically, decide to sell off all the land and waltz away with the money – all the dozens of plantations, townhouses, business operations, and more owned by the St-Chinians – leaving hundreds of family members and their dependents destitute. Which, you know, it' hard to have much sympathy for a slave-owner losing his sugar plantation, but any such abrupt shift in ownership would put the slaves themselves in danger too.

Such is Ellie's ostracism from New Orleans high society that Veryl decides to hold the wedding on Cold Bayou, a small, remote plantation. Benjamin and Hannibal are hired to provide music for the ceremony; Chloe attends as Veryl's beloved niece, which means she brings Henri, which means he brings Dominique; Livia Levesque, Ben's mother, receives an invitation and would never refuse a chance to show off her social connections; Selwyn Singletary (previously appearing in Good Man Friday comes along as a Veryl's fellow old man who's more interested in Plato and calculus than business or family; and Rose is invited as perhaps the only person Veryl actually, simply, likes.

And so they all head off to isolation in Cold Bayou, where there's not enough guest rooms or food and everything immediately goes wrong. The priest doesn't show up on time, suitors of various young women make dramatic arrivals, spoiled young white men challenge one other to duels, Ellie's maid is having an affair with a fieldhand, the overseer is embezzling from the plantation, Ellie's uncle shows up to threaten anyone insulting his niece, and through it all the St-Chinians are doing everything they can to stop the wedding.

Matters escalate when Ellie's maid claims that Ellie holds the papers on a debt long-ago incurred by Simon Fourchet, Ben's former owner. If she's telling the truth, it means that Ben, his mother, his siblings, and all of their children are still legally enslaved. Ben tries to investigate this claim, but he doesn't get far before the maid is killed that night, presumably in a case of mistaken identity for Ellie herself. And as if things weren't bad enough, a storm causes the Mississippi to flood, trapping everyone on the plantation.

I absolutely loved this book. It has a really fun twist on the country-house genre (flooded sugar plantation is about as far as you can get from British country house, but they serve the same purpose!), and it was wonderful to see characters we hadn't gotten to spend time with in the most recent books, particularly Livia. She's so awful, but her scenes are some of my favorites.

I don't want to spoil the mystery, but the resolution is incredibly well-done. It speaks to how we can all be short-sighted, as readers and people; we – and Ben, at least at first - assume we know who's the main character in the story and who's only secondary, but the truth turns out to be very different.

I'm not sure I'd recommend this book as an introduction to the series, there's too many characters fans already know playing important parts. But if you're familiar with Ben January and co. already, you're sure to love this.

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2459396421

Another well-written novel in the Benjamin January series. This time, Benjamin and his fellow musicians are engaged to play at a May-December wedding at an isolated plantation. His mother, wife, and sister are all also attending the wedding. Much drama ensues surrounding the antecedents of the bride and her worthiness (or lack thereof) in the eyes of the groom's family. There is the requisite murder, and much trouble for Benjamin as he must prove his innocence. Hambly does an excellent job of explaining exactly why the family is in such a tizzy over the somewhat elderly groom's choice (very complicated inheritance issues), and why the wedding is not taking place in the city, as well as delineating the social mores of 1839 New Orleans. This is a wonderful series, showing (instead of telling) the issues people of color dealt with in nineteenth century America. As another Good Reads reviewer points out, it's a pity that this series hasn't been picked up by PBS, or some of the novels made into films. However, I think it would be difficult to explain many of the social issues in a visual format, and quite frankly, I doubt that the majority of the viewing public has any real knowledge of the history of New Orleans and gens de couleur libres. I'd like to express my gratitude to Severn House and NetGalley, who provided an eARC in return for an honest review.

Disclaimer: Arc via Severn Publishers and Netgalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.

In part, a book’s popularity determines whether or not it will be adapted to film or television. I get this. But sometimes, I look at all the shows that make into production and wonder why. Then I wonder why, no one has made a mystery series out of the Benjamin January novels. The first one was published in 1997. The series has staying power. So seriously, Hollywood, wake up!
This installment finds Ben, Rose, his mother and sister traveling to a plantation outside of New Orleans to attend the wedding of a rich Veryl St-Chinian to a far less rich and less pure Miss Ellie Trask. Needless to say, the rich man’s family is rather put out about this low case Irish wench weaseling her way into the old rich boy’s heart.
It’s a plot that has been use in one way or another since well, whenever. But Ben isn’t in Martin Chuzzlewit. Before the dead body is discovered, the January family’s freedom is at risk, so Ben finds himself fighting to prove his innocence of murder as well as to keep his family free.
Hambly’s series works because she captures a New Orleans after the purchase but before the Civil War, when American were slowly, perhaps, changing the way the society of New Orleans as well as the laws work. Ben and his family view this though the gaze of freed slaves (his mother, he, and his sister were freed. His second sister is mistress to one of Viellard family, who are related to the St-Chinian family). Everything about Ben’s life is affected by his skin color and status, he is trained as a doctor but cannot work as one, so instead is a musician. One sister is a voodoo priestess who does not speak to their mother, who secured the family’s freedom by drawing the interest of a rich white man. The strain between mother and oldest daughter is tied to sex and behavior among whites. Ben’s wife, Rose, is a mixed race woman who runs a school for mixed race girls. His sister’s relationship with her protector is conducted with the knowledge that they cannot marry and that their daughter will always be viewed as secondary, if that.
Hambly tackles the issue of shade of skin color as well – not only within the January family- but also with those that they know. Power and status are important to not only the whites who inhabit the story but to the blacks and at great cost, for freed slaves have more to lose than respect.
The mystery and its outcome are well done. Hambly, as usual, makes her female characters shine even though the series is centered on a male title character.
It’s just a shame that a series that combines race issues, history, and a homage to Christie doesn’t get enough respect to be made into a film.

I really couldn't get into this story at all - nothing grabbed me. So I didn't finish it, and can't give it a good review. I'm sure someone else could get past all the voodoo talk and the dialect to get to the real story, but I could not.

3 stars

I read the Kindle edition.

It is New Orleans in 1839. Benjamin January who is also a doctor has agreed to play the piano at the Cold Bayou wedding of Veryl St. Chinian – against his family’s wishes and without their support. Veryl is a sixty-seven year old wealthy land owner who is marrying an eighteen-year old woman named Ellie Trask. The wedding guests and the rest of the town consider her a worthless slut.

This book gives a good description of life in 1939 New Orleans - for white, slaves and free people of color. It describes the difficulties of even being a free person of color in those times, the countryside and the culture of the different “classes” of people.

I had a lot of trouble with the jargon in this book. Some of the terms that were used I did not understand. (I needed a dictionary of the local language at that time.) I had a difficult time getting past that. The novel is well written and I had a very hard time trying to assign a number grade to it because I didn’t understand so much of it. I suppose I could say that the author’s use of the local language at that time in history was very good. At least, I believe it was.

I want to thank NetGalley and Severn House for forwarding to me a copy of this interesting, but difficult novel to read and review.