A Streetcar Named Murder by T. G. Herren

A Streetcar Named Murder

by T. G. Herren

Blackmail in the Big Easy turns to cold-blooded murder—and antiques dealer Valerie Cooper is suspect #1—in this debut cozy mystery perfect for fans of Jane K. Cleland!

When the mysterious letter arrives by courier, Valerie Cooper doesn’t know what to make of it. She’s become the beneficiary of her late husband’s estranged uncle’s will—a man she never knew—and inherited a majority partnership in the family’s company, New Orleans Fine Antiques. Valerie knows nothing about antiques, but she decides to learn the business and become an active partner. She’s also got her hands full fending off Collette, a woman who wants to sell the huge old house in the Irish Channel neighborhood Valerie and her husband painstakingly renovated.

Valerie isn’t interested in selling—but when her best friend Lauren, drags her to a costume party for the women’s Mardi Gras club, the Krewe of Athena, she stumbles over Collette’s body, a jeweled dagger sticking out of her chest. In a rush of panic, Valerie recognizes the dagger from her shop—and before she knows it, she’s become murder suspect number one.

Egged on by Lauren, she starts digging into Collette’s business dealings, and the deeper she digs, the dirtier it gets. Now all fingers are pointing at Valerie. In a desperate bid to clear her name, Valerie frantically tries to find who could have gotten hold of the dagger. But among a cadre of guests in full costume, it could be impossible to find the thief—and unmask the real killer.

Reviewed by annieb123 on

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Originally posted on my blog Nonstop Reader.

A Streetcar Named Murder is the first book in a new cozy mystery series by T. G. Herren set in New Orleans . Released 6th Dec 2022 by Crooked Lane Books, it's 304 pages and is available in hardcover, audio, and ebook formats. It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links. I've really become enamored of ebooks with interactive formats lately.

This is a light and often humorous cozy featuring an unwilling amateur sleuth who is in the process of figuring out her life and her place in it after a bereavement and empty-nest lifestyle change force her to re-examine her possibilities. She's young, under 40, and a recent totally unexpected bequest has turned her life upside and forced her to examine what she's going to do with the rest of her life, including her immediate future.

I was surprised how well rendered the (mostly female) characters were. The author has a definite knack with making them feel three dimensional and fairly believable. It's a light cozy, so there are over-the-top situations and dialogue, but despite the constraints of the genre, Mr. Herren manages to sneak some deeper thought provoking ideas into the story: self-determination & growth, found family, good people doing bad things out of love, amongst others. Additionally, it's absolutely *full* of minutiae about behind-the-scenes Mardi Gras culture and the workings of the different krewes who are part of the pageantry. The author seems to have a limitless knowledge of NOLA customs and it made for fascinating reading.

The book wasn't entirely archetypal: when the murder/crimes occured, the local police didn't immediately focus on railroading the protagonist in a wildly inappropriate persecution, the mystery is more linear and less "twisty" than many, and the story concentrated more on background world building and character development than red-herrings. I like this setting and the characters a lot and am looking forward to seeing what comes next.

Four stars. It will appeal to fans of Lauren Elliott, Vicky Delaney, and Ellie Alexander. 

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

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Reading updates

  • 14 January, 2023: Started reading
  • 14 January, 2023: Finished reading
  • 14 January, 2023: Reviewed