Casting Bones by Don Bruns

Quentin ended up fighting the cops in Detroit.  They were dirty, he proved it and now his family will have nothing to do with him.  One brother is in jail, another is on the run, and his father isn't speaking to him.  Despite all that he could probably live with it but someone ran his wife down with an SUV and killed her on the sidewalk.  Life is desolate without his wife.  He transfers to New Orleans and goes to work there.  It's a drastic change between Detroit and New Orleans.  But there are problems here, too.

Severn House and Net Galley allowed me to read this book for review (thank you).  It will be published October 1st.

When a judge is fished out the river, Quentin and his partner get the case.  As he tries to get questions answered, he gets told to back off.  It seems there's a big organization in the shadows that controls a portion of the judges and cops and jails, even the mayor.  He left one hotbed of corruption and appears to have wandered into another one.

The more he finds, the more dangerous it gets for him.  When he meets a young woman who hands him the first clue, he not sure if he should believe her.  After all, she practices voodoo.  She and a bartender downtown are the only folks who try to help him.  A pickpocket does, too.  Using this varied crowd, he works on the case and against his partner.

Before the end of the story, there are three dead judges, his cop partner has committed suicide, men are walking way from their cop jobs, and he's almost left standing alone.  He's determined, though.  He won't give up.

I like Quentin's character.  He's strong, tries to do what's right and he'll go where most are afraid to touch things.  This story is a battle from beginning to end.  Even when it's over, it's not over yet.  The next book in this series ought to be interesting, this one was.