It's always a treat to return to the New Orleans of Barbara Hambly's surgeon/musician/detective Benjamin January, whose adventures I've been reading since his first appearance in 1997's A Free Man of Color. In the 21st entry in this series, set in 1841 with substantial flashbacks to 1816, Hambly presents Benjamin January with two intersecting mysteries: the first, undertaken at the request of the son of his mother's one-time protector, involves the rightful ownership of a plantation and the truth of what occurred there during the Battle of Chalmette a quarter-century previously; the second involves a Frenchman newly arrived in the city who is inexplicably provoked into a fatal duel.

Hambly constructs a clever plot with plenty of deceptions and misapprehensions in the past as well as in the present, and she's equally good at unspooling the story for the reader as Benjamin proceeds with his detective work at his own peril. The final sequence, with its flurry of revelations as Benjamin dodges hired killers in a Mardi Gras parade, is genuinely suspenseful. Readers will also most likely learn a great deal they didn't know about a particularly volatile moment in Louisiana (and American) history.

Reading a new Benjamin January mystery is like visiting an old friend. Benjamin's relationship with his wife Rose is as engaging as ever, and it's likewise a pleasure to see the series' regular supporting characters who cross Benjamin's path and aid his investigations in their respective ways, from the infinitely erudite fiddler Hannibal Sefton to Ben's prideful, sharp-tongued mother with her encyclopedic command of New Orleans gossip. Best of all, Hambly has lost none of her knack for bringing 19th-century New Orleans vividly to life, nor her eagle eye for the subtleties of the complex relationships between its Black and white populations and their very different but inextricably intertwined histories (which certainly do not lack contemporary resonance).

Fans of Benjamin January will want to read this well-executed continuation of his adventures. The ending suggests it will not be the last.

With thanks to Severn House for providing this book for review consideration via NetGalley. All opinions are very definitely my own.

Benjamin January, free man of color, in New Orleans of 1841 is a musician, a doctor, and a solver of crimes. His white half brother Dagobert gets involved in a sinister mystery from the time the British invaded New Orleans; he is infatuated with a woman who claims her father's fortune was stolen. Benjamin and his family is attacked because of his involvement; What could possibly go wrong in Murder in the Trembling Lands? A look back at the New Orleans of the pre civil war South when some free men of color had a precarious standing in the city. Excellent historical mystery.

Firstly, don’t let the fact that this is the twenty-first book in the series put you off. While there is an overarching story of Ben’s life across the series, each book explores a particular murder mystery involving Ben and as such, doesn’t leave you floundering.

Ben January is now settled with a wife and children and is well known within New Orleans as a gifted musician and physician. Rose, his wife, has established a school that specialises in teaching black children who otherwise wouldn’t receive a decent education. That said, it’s a constant struggle, especially as times are hard. Some parents can no longer afford the school fees.
So when Ben’s white half-brother offers him a large sum of money to help investigate what he claims is a terrible injustice committed some twenty-six years ago, when war came to New Orleans, Ben isn’t in a position to refuse. That said, he finds digging into this portion of the past raises some painful memories – and we learn of the events that led up to Ben’s decision to leave New Orleans for France when he was a young man.

What stands out for me every time I dive into one of Hambly’s Ben January books is the vividness of the worldbuilding. I can effortlessly visualise the street scenes, smell the scent of burnt sugar, raw sewerage, cooking, spices and the thick heavy smell of the river. And when Ben visits the ruined plantations, where the soil has been exhausted by intensive cultivation of sugar cane and half flooded in the major storm of 1831 – I am immersed in the vegetation, the feel of the mud and wildlife. The trembling lands of the title alludes to the marshland, where islets of firm ground give way to marsh where a man can sink up to his chest in plant-thickened ooze which quickly entangles him.

The characters are just as vividly depicted. I find such immersion into this harsh, corrupt society of long ago to be spellbinding – and I always surface with a huge surge of thankfulness that I’m in the here and now. This particular adventure is poignant and the betrayal of the free men of colour who chose to fight off the invaders by reneging on the promise of awarding every enlisted man 160 acres of land was what finally drove Ben January to seek his fortune in France, until the death of his wife brought him back to the land of his birth. Ben and his comrades weren’t even allowed to take part in the Victory March on the grounds that slaves watching men of colour marching with weapons might put ideas in their heads.

I’m aware that I might have given the impression that this book is a rant about the evident injustices within the society. It isn’t. It’s all about the story of a man who finds himself needing to unearth a twenty-six-year-old mystery and is every bit as suspenseful and exciting as thrashing around in swampland while being chased by men with guns can be. But that doesn’t stop Hambly skilfully threading the historical facts around the story so that I put this one down feeling sad and angry on behalf of people long dead. And very much wishing such injustices weren’t still going on. While I obtained an arc of Murder in the Trembling Lands from the publisher via Netgalley, the opinions I have expressed are unbiased and my own.
10/10

I began reading this series long ago when it began in 1997, and now this book, #21 in 2025. The series begins in 1833 and it is now Mardi Gras time in 1841. The story takes place back and forth to 1814, when blacks are promised 160 acres if they fight against the British in the Battle of New Orleans.
If you are new to this series it is important to.understand the culture of New Orleans at the time, as the mystery surrounding this plot is of historical significance.
Benjamin January is a free black man in New Orleans. He was born a slave, his father being a dark African and his mother a mixed, lighter woman. when she is bought by Mr. Janvier to be his mistress,, he buys 7 year old Benjamin also. He brings them to New Orleans , frees them and pays for Benjamin's education. At this time, many rich men in New Orleans had black mistresses who they housed and had children by. Their wives turned a blind eye. Benjamin knew his white half brother, Dagobert.
Now, in 1841, Dagobert comes to Benjamin for help. Thus starts a very convoluted story about the Spanish government trying to pay to help defeat the Americans in the battle of New Orleans so the British would win.
The mystery is, where is the money in 1841 and who was the traitor who brokered the deal.
What I love about this series is how Hambly immerses us in the life of New Orleans. Since this takes place during Mardi Gras, the pageantry and excesses are fascinating. Benjamin is always the smartest man in the room, and his thoughts about the stupidity of others is humorous while horrible things are happening.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the EARC. I was so happy to find that the series continues after over 30 years.

Barbara Hambly writes a wonderful and critically acclaimed historical mystery series set in antebellum New Orleans starring Benjamin January, a surgeon, a musician, reluctant detective and free Black man. Hambly is able put in her stories historical details, atmosphere, great characters and the social nuances of a complex society that is New Orleans in the 1840s: French, Spanish, Americans, enslaved people, poor, rich, whites, free Blacks and where white plantation owners have families with Black mistresses that attend parties together where their white wives are in the same building.

Benjamin January for all his accomplishments and intelligence, it is a struggle to make sure he and his family have enough money to feed and house all those dependent on them. And he daily has to walk a fine line of the racial hostilities and the possibility of slavers kidnapping him into slavery once more. Things get complicated when his half-brother, the white one related to the other side of the family, asks for his help in reclaiming an inheritance an old neighbor is looking for. Knowing his brother is helpless for a woman in distress, Benjamin reluctantly helps because the money is too good. Unfortunately, some people seem determined to make sure this doesn't happen. Benjamin and his family soon find themselves in danger and it all links back to a murder that happened during a duel Benjamin attended. Benjamin will need all his wits and luck to come out of this alive.

This is an excellent series and this installment stands up to the rest of them. It isn't necessarily an easy book to read but if you want rich historical detail and a seemingly realistic portrayal of social interactions and racial hierarchy with a good story this is a series and book to delve into.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Fans of this long running series will be pleased with this latest, which sees Benjamin working with Abishag Shaw to find a murderer. It's especially. notable for how Benjamin navigates between black and white families and his own history. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. Always enjoy these.

A new Benjamin January story is always cause for celebration! Murder in the Trembling Lands is set during the Carnival celebrations leading up to Lent. Ben is sucked in to helping a member of his white "family" (the family of his mother's protector) assist a young woman former resident of the city in her search for documents relating to ownership of former family lands. While not my favorite of the series, this was still an interesting read, if only for the relationships between the free people of color and the white families with whom they are intertwined.

Murder, mystery, dark, gritty this is an all one in. Not forgetting how emotionally attached you will get from the get go. The writing style is enjoyable and admirable. This will take you on a journey which you will enjoy and will not want to end I guarantee you that. Mind blowing and portrays exactly how some neighbours are worldwide.