Part of Dave Robicheaux, book 23
First published 2020
Detective Dave Robicheaux investigates when two young musicians from feuding crime families disappear from New Iberia. Johnny Shondell and Isolde Balangie have fled together after Isolde was forced into sexual slavery by Johnny's uncle. The Shondell and Balangie clans have been enemies for years in the local criminal underworld. Robicheaux gets dangerously close to both Isolde's mother and her father's mistress during his investigation. Isolde's father, a New Orleans mafioso, responds with deadly jealousy. He sends a supernatural hitman after Robicheaux and his partner Clete Purcel. This assassin can create terrifying visions and travels on a phantom ship that appears without warning. The "Bobbsey Twins from Homicide" have never encountered such an enemy. To save the young lovers and survive, Robicheaux must confront his personal demons: his struggles with alcohol, his trauma from Vietnam combat, and his grief over the women he loved who died violently.
Genres: mystery, crime, thriller, detective
Vibes: atmospheric, dark, emotional, suspenseful
Tropes: enemies-to-lovers, supernatural-elements, unreliable-narrator
Setting: New Iberia, New Orleans
Period: Vietnam War
384 pages · ebook · Simon Schuster
Content warnings: addiction, violence