Floodgates (Faye Longchamp Mysteries (Hardcover)) [Hardcover]

Mary Anna Evans (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 5, 2008 | Series: Faye Longchamp Mysteries (Hardcover) (Book 5)

In New Orleans, archaeologist Faye Longchamp and her team of archaeologists are horrified when a corpse surfaces that's far too new to be an archaeological find. Faye and her fianc Joe Wolf Mantooth are drawn into the investigation by a detective who believes their professional expertise is critical to the case. They quickly learn that trouble swirled around the victim, Shelly Broussard, like winds around the still, quiet eye of a hurricane. Does Shelly's heroic rescue work in the aftermath of Katrina the key to her death? Or does the sheaf of photos in her work files hold the answer?

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

At the outset of Evans's engaging if somewhat thinly plotted fourth mystery to feature archeologist Faye Longchamp (after 2008's Findings), Faye and her team are excavating a plantation site outside New Orleans, next to the battlefield where Andrew Jackson's army defeated the British in 1815. When students doing post-Katrina cleanup find the remains of what appears to be a drowning victim from the hurricane, a dumbbell resting atop the pelvis suggests foul play to Faye. The police ask Faye and her fiancé, Joe Wolf Mantooth, to assist in what becomes a murder investigation, the victim having been identified as a fellow archeologist, Shelly Broussard, who worked with rescue teams after the storm. Passages from a book about the Katrina disaster by a local author and extracts from the memoirs of a 19th-century military engineer provide insights and historical perspective. Faye's landlady, a part-time voodoo-mambo or priestess, adds spice. (July)
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From Booklist

*Starred Review* Archaeologist Faye Longchamp is taking a break from her doctoral studies to do some fieldwork in New Orleans. She is working at the site of the Revolutionary War’s Battle of New Orleans when a park ranger offers to show her a neighborhood destroyed by Hurricane Katrina. Volunteers cleaning up a damaged home find a body there. The police think that it’s another drowning victim, but Faye notices that the debris piled on the corpse is all wrong. A young female detective brings Faye and her fiancé, Joe Wolf Mantooth, into the case because their archaeological expertise will be useful in sorting out what happened. They soon discover that the victim, Shelly Broussard, played an important role in the poststorm rescue work but may have made some serious enemies in the process. Evans has written a fascinating tale linking the history of New Orleans’ levee system to the present and weaving into the story aspects of the city’s widely diverse cultures. Voodoo, Native American spirituality, greed, and corruption all play roles in what is easily the best installment yet in a too-little-known series. --Barbara Bibel

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 250 pages
• Publisher: Poisoned Pen Press; 1 edition (July 5, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1590585917
• ISBN-13: 978-1590585917
• Product Dimensions: 8.7 x 5.8 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,170,018 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

I'm the author of the award-winning Faye Longchamp archaeological mysteries: ARTIFACTS, RELICS, EFFIGIES, FINDINGS, and FLOODGATES. The sixth in the series, STRANGERS, will be published in October.

I'm a a chemical engineer by training and license, with a degree in engineering physics thrown in for spice, but I love reading about history and writing about an archaeologist. Truth be told, I'm a little jealous of Faye and her archaeological adventures.

I enjoy reading, writing, gardening, spending time with my family, cooking, and playing my 7-and-a-half-foot-long monster of a grand piano. My cat helps me write, so I should probably put his name on my books. Check them out here on Amazon or at your favorite bookstore.