That Old Black Magic by Mary Jane Clark

Piper Donovan has won a wonderful trip to New Orleans where she will work with a great chef and show off her own cake making skills.  She's thrilled!  It's not quite as much a thrill, though, when the man who served her lunch the day before turns up dead in his shop.  Especially since he was disfigured after death with a whip...

William Morrow and Edelweiss gave me the opportunity to read and review this ebook (thank you).  It will be published January 21st, so check with your local bookstore for a copy then.

New Orleans is filled with atmosphere, old secrets, myths and legends.  Voodoo and Hoodoo are mentioned in this story.  You don't want to look too hard in the dark corners there.

You have a street jazz musician that knows all about the two different "doo" versions.  You have a radio show host who is going to lose his job unless he can find a good story.  You have a bartender who has huge medical bills for his disabled son.  You also have a nephew who thought he was inheriting and found out he's not.  And somewhere there is a killer who isn't planning on stopping until it's accomplished its goal.

Piper tries to stay out of it but the second man killed is the touchy-feely chef she's supposed to be learning from.  Having someone killed in the building you're living in is shocking.  So is having the cops eyeballing you for the murder.

I suspected several people of being involved, but I was wrong.  This was a good mystery as well as a nice look at New Orleans.  The city has its own culture and is a nice place to visit.  It wasn't hard to envision murder happening there, though.  It's like the city is on the edge of good and evil and anything can happen there.

Why not take an armchair visit to New Orleans and see if you are smarter than I am and pick the murderer before it's disclosed.  If you are, just gloat a bit and move on.  I don't need a comment on it.  (Just kidding...)

Happy reading.