Cities of the Dead (Michael Spraggue Mystery) [Hardcover]

Linda Barnes (Author)

Book Description

Series: Michael Spraggue Mystery | Publication Date: January 1986

"Barnes builds her plot like a fine pastry, layer by layer." Chicago Sun-Times
A Michael Spraggue mystery.
When the great chefs of New Orleans stage an elegant banquet, tempers burn hotter than cayenne pepper. Up-and-coming Cajun chef Joseph Fontenot is found with a slender French cooking knife through his heart, and all the evidence points to Dora Levoyer, sublime cook to Boston's wealthhy and eccentric Mary Spraggue Hillman.
A guest at the banquet, Mary summons her nephew Michael Spraggue, actor-cum-private detective, to the scene. And soon Spraggue is investigating a murder case that will leave his mouth burning and his mind spinning. One thing is certain: the solution to the murder will make for a spicy mystery indeed!

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Elderly, wealthy and game, Mary Hillman catches the next plane from Boston to New Orleans when her long-time cook, Dora, vacationing there, calls to ask for help. Dora has been accused of stabbing to death her former husband while both attended a banquet for the great chefs of New Orleans. Mary enlists the aid of her nephew Michael Spraggue, an actor and private eye, license expired. Tracing the victim's life back to his multi-aliased early days, Michael visits a hoodoo practitioner, gets bounced from a sleazy bar, treks thrugh a cemetery, and unearths a few of Dora's deepest secrets, finally saving her life. He also has occasion to use his acting skills in apt and interesting fashion. Barnes's tone in her fourth Spraggue mystery (Dead Heat and Bitter Finish is as sprightly and engaging as ever, especially in relating a romance between aunt Mary and detective sergeant Rawlins. February 14
Copyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From the Inside Flap

"Barnes builds her plot like a fine pastry, layer by layer." Chicago Sun-Times
A Michael Spraggue mystery.
When the great chefs of New Orleans stage an elegant banquet, tempers burn hotter than cayenne pepper. Up-and-coming Cajun chef Joseph Fontenot is found with a slender French cooking knife through his heart, and all the evidence points to Dora Levoyer, sublime cook to Boston's wealthhy and eccentric Mary Spraggue Hillman.
A guest at the banquet, Mary summons her nephew Michael Spraggue, actor-cum-private detective, to the scene. And soon Spraggue is investigating a murder case that will leave his mouth burning and his mind spinning. One thing is certain: the solution to the murder will make for a spicy mystery indeed! --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 184 pages
• Publisher: St Martins Press; 1st edition (January 1986)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312139403
• ISBN-13: 978-0312139407
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.9 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,169,272 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

I was born in Detroit; I always say that's where I learned about crime, but I mean no disrespect to a great city. It's also where I learned to love Motown music and do the Stroll. Came to Boston to go to college, and like so many, stayed, awed by the Atlantic Ocean and accessible public transportation. I still love walking Boston's cobbled streets, riding the T, breathing the history.
I started writing while teaching high school theater. Required by my principal to enter a one-act play festival sponsored by the Boston Globe, I cast the play before I actually found it. I had such great students that year, and 12 of them certainly deserved to be in the festival cast. When I couldn't find a one-act with 12 roles (duh), I had to write one myself. The festival was a competition, and darned if we didn't keep on winning, right up to the state finals, where a man came up to me and asked whether he might publish that play. I said yes, wrote more plays, and then segued into crime fiction.
My first Carlotta Carlyle short story was nominated for just about every mystery award going, and the first Carlyle novel, A TROUBLE OF FOOLS, was nominated for an Edgar and a Shamus, and won the American Mystery Award. I've got a new book, the eleventh in the Carlyle series, coming out in May. It's called HEART OF THE WORLD. Check my website for upcoming tour details. For the rest, I'm married, mother of a teenage son, and currently proud to be president of Private Eye Writers of America.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An Enjoyable Book, June 2, 2002

By 

Peter Kenney (Birmingham, Alabama, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Cities of the Dead (Mass Market Paperback)

This is the fourth of the Michael Sprague mysteries, and unlike the others which are set in Boston, this one takes place in New Orleans. The book suffers because of this since the author seems to be more familiar with Boston.The grave yards and skeletons give it a spooky but light quality. The fierce jealousies portrayed among New Orleans chefs add to the story.

I found it an enjoyable book although it is not the best of Linda Barnes' work.