Crescent City Kill

Julie Smith

New Orleans and corruption - those two nouns seem to go together. But there's been a new chief of police selected. He's a man from within the force who appears to be liked by all his fellow policemen, no matter what differences they may have. He has a reputation for being honest and one of the good guys. He also is black.

The day he was to start his new duties, he is killed in a drive by shooting. Homicide detective Skip Langdon and her partner are able to quickly track down the man who was seen by a neighbor as he performed the shooting. He is arrested and taken to jail. While taking him from one building to another, the accused man is shot by a sniper. A vigilante group, The Jury, send a letter to Skip claiming responsibility. Skip is certain that her prior nemisis, Errol Jacomine, is beind the Jury. Now she has to prove it.

Crescent City Kill is the novel of a commited police detective who is still hurting from the shooting death of a criminal within the past year. It is the tale of a charismatic psychopath with a deep hold on his son and his followers. It is the story of other family members trying to avoid him and his ideas. It also pits two strong characters' wits against each other, each trying to destroy the other, one on the side of the justice and law and one on the side of his skewed idea of justice and righteousness.

This book is not as strong as other novels in the Skip Langdon series. It follows up on the questions left by the last book. In the other stories, New Orleans is a much of a character in the book as are the people. In this one, they all tend to suffer. None are etched as strongly as in the past. By the end I was finally sucked in, but until the last quarter, the book meandered through a Louisiana marsh, going nowhere fast.

New Orleans Mourning
The Axeman's Jazz
Jazz Funeral
New Orleans Beat
House of Blues
Kindness of Strangers
Crescent City Kill
82 Desire
Mean Woman Blues