Lady of Perdition (Benjamin January Mystery)

by Barbara Hambly

"A stark and occasionally brutal story, and Hambly tells it superbly, in prose that is vivid and empathetic. For fans of this fine series, this is a must-read" - Booklist Starred Review

Benjamin January heads to the "Slaveholders' Republic" of Texas to locate a kidnapped girl and help a woman who saved him from the noose.

April, 1840. Benjamin January knows no black person in their right mind would willingly go to the Republic of Texas but when his former pupil Selina Bellinger is kidnapped and enslaved, he has no choice. Once there he is saved from being hanged by Valentina Taggart, wife of the wealthy landowner of Rancho Perdition.

After Valentina is accused of the murder of her husband, she in turn calls on Benjamin for help. To do so, he must abandon the safe haven of New Orleans, where people know he's a free man, to return to the self-proclaimed "Slaveholders' Republic".

In a land still disputed between vengeful Comanche, disgruntled Mexican Tejanos, Americans who want to join the United States and those who want to keep Texas free, January must uncover what happened to Valentina's husband. Behind lies, betrayals and rising political tensions lies the answer . . . but finding it could cost Ben his life.

• ISBN10: 0727889095
• ISBN13: 9780727889096
• Publish Date: 30 September 2019
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: GB
• Publisher: Canongate Books Ltd
• Imprint: Severn House
• Edition: Main
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 256
• Language: English

Reviews

[annieb123]

Originally published on my blog: Nonstop Reader.

Lady of Perdition is the 17th (!!) Benjamin January novel by Barbara Hambly. Due out 7th Jan 2020 from Severn House, it's 256 pages and will be available in hardcover and ebook formats (ebook available now).

These books are superbly well written. The author manages to convey the very real peril of living as a person of color in the southern USA in the 1840s. Despite being a European trained physician and gifted musician, Dr. January is continually at risk of being kidnapped and forced into slavery. In this installment, January, along with his loyal friends Abishag Shaw and Hannibal Sefton venture deep into Texas to try to rescue a young kidnapped girl, a student of his wife's girls' school.

This book works well as a standalone, the mystery (less of a murder mystery and more of a 'how will they get out of this alive') and parallel plots work very well without previous familiarity with the series. I do recommend reading the series, however, for the consistently high quality of the plotting and characterizations as well as the meticulous historical research. The books are full of the casual racist and sexist violence which was endemic to that part of the world, and they could have been relentlessly depressing. The author manages to imbue the characters with nobility, grit, purpose, honesty, and even a touch of humor and whimsy (especially Hannibal and Rose, whom I adore).

I love these books and truly look forward to every installment with anticipation.

Five stars for this one, and five stars for the series.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.