Bookshelf

Bayou Justice

by Robin Caroll
Author Website: http://www.robincaroll.com/

Available in paperback or Kindle. Steeple Hill, 2007; ISBN: 0373442645. 224 pages

Coco LeBlanc, an alligator conservationist, lives on the Louisiana bayou with her younger sister and their grandmother, a voodoo priestess. The book opens with her ex-fiance's grandfather serving them an eviction notice. The next day Coco finds his body in the bayou. She and Luc broke up two years before and have hardly spoken since. Now both of them are suspects for the murder and have only each other on their sides.

It took me a while to get into this book, but once I did, I couldn't put it down. It's got twists galore and a nice level of unpredictability. The detailed plot expertly entwines religious beliefs, family loyalties, romance, the Confederacy and the KKK.

Final Thoughts: An excellent debut offering; an entertaining, suspenseful read. I gladly recommend this book and look forward to the second in this series, Bayou Corruption, to be released February 2008.