Louisiana Hotshot: A Talba Wallis Novel [Hardcover]

Julie Smith (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 18, 2001

Edgar Award-winner Julie Smith returns to the bewitching streets of New Orleans with the smartest, sassiest, hippest detective ever-the Baroness Pontalba.

Meet the snazziest P.I. in the land. Not by accident does she roam America's jazziest city, New Orleans. By day she is Talba Wallis: smart, sassy, ebony, and a fledgling detective. By night she is the Baroness Pontalba: poet laureate of the city's smoky rooms, matron saint of her town's exotic and multi-colorful café society.

Goaded into a day gig by her pushy mom, she finds herself employed by Eddie Valentino, and Talba is plunged into a world of fame, money, and power run amok, hunting a man who seduces teenage black girls and may be making them disappear. At the same time she is haunted by disturbing near-memories. Her forgotten past only emerges when violence enters her life-but not, she learns, for the first time.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Talba Wallis, the smart, sassy, African American computer whiz who's also a gifted poet and artist, made her debut in Smith's last Skip Langdon mystery, 82 Desire--along with her alter ego, the Baroness de Pontalba. Here she's back in a story of her own, holding court at a hip café by night (and keeping her audience entertained with the rap story of how her mother named her Urethra) while embarking by day on a new career as a detective under the cynical aegis of Eddie Valentino, an old PI who's never encountered anyone quite like her before.

But Eddie's got problems of his own, so he turns Talba loose investigating the possible molestation of a young black teenager and the disappearance of a couple of her friends. There's something about the violent trail she's following on this, her first case, that's stirring up Talba's own memories of her long-gone father, about whom neither Miz Clara, Talba's tough and crusty mama, nor her yuppie brother the doctor will utter a word. Set in New Orleans, territory Smith knows well, this is a lively mystery with a vivid, outrageous, and wholly likable new heroine whose appearance will be welcomed by fans of the writer's Skip Langdon series. --Jane Adams

From Publishers Weekly

Following the success of 82 Desire (1998), which introduced Talba Wallis (aka Baroness de Pontalba), the black poet/computer expert and would-be investigator returns to undertake another harrowing adventure in New Orleans. Talba is a seething mass of contradictions assured and vulnerable, flip and sentimental, cocky and fearful. Answering an unlikely ad with her customary bravado lands her a job as assistant to aging PI Eddie Valentino. The young black female and 65-year-old Italian male have striking similarities that offset their obvious differences. Both are stubborn and strongly attached to, if somewhat alienated from, their families. Throw in a vulnerable young girl, Cassandra, being preyed on by a rap star's hanger-on identified only by the nickname "Toes," and you have a story that spans generations, races and lifestyles. As Talba and Eddie struggle to establish a working relationship and, similarly, struggle to resolve troublesome family relationships, the plight of their newest client worsens. Identifying Toes and stopping him before he eliminates Cassandra (or nosy detectives like themselves) becomes first priority. Smith generates plenty of tension as the savvy veteran and the eager novice combine their talents. But it is Smith's evocation of her beloved New Orleans and her deft exploration of her characters' intimate relationships that will lure readers to this series.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 320 pages
• Publisher: Forge Books; 1st edition (May 18, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0765300583
• ISBN-13: 978-0765300584
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 6.4 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (22 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,387,760 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Author of the Skip Langdon and Talba Wallis mystery series; Edgar-winner; New Orleans resident.

Also founder of www.booksBnimble.com, an electronic publishing start-up, and author of the YA paranormal adventure, CURSEBUSTERS!

Latest adventure:
I've reworked my writing class as an ebook called WRITING YOUR WAY (http://amzn.to/o6XN3T), with special emphasis on first chapters and marketing. You can see The Prose Nazi video below for an idea of my approach--i.e. flexible; designed to find YOUR best writing method, not force mine on you. We also have outtakes for your amusement. The third video, which I'll call GTFA, is a trailer for a fun parody book booksBnimble couldn't resist doing one rainy afternoon. Check out my websites, www.cursebustersbook.com, www.booksBnimble,com (where I also blog) and www.casamysterioso.com.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Julie Smith's Triumphant Return, May 13, 2001

By 

Jack (Washington, DC United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Louisiana Hotshot: A Talba Wallis Novel (Hardcover)

Long time fans of Julie Smith's witty mysteries will not be disappointed by this new title.

Spinning off a character from her latest Skip Langdon mystery "82 Desire", Talba Wallis, this book definitely ranks up there with Smith's Edgar Award winning "New Orleans Mourning". Talba Wallis, a self-described computer nerd, takes a job with private eye Eddie Valentino and soon becomes involved in a search for a mysterious man who has date raped a young teenage girl in New Orleans. Before long, the search becomes much more desperate as it appears that the young girl's friends are disappearing and dying.

Smith is a master of creating suspense and tension; this book is no exception. Complicating matters even further is Talba's decision to start looking for her own father, whom she doesn't remember. This causes her to reexamine her strained relationship with her brother and his wife; and her mother, Miz Clara, makes her displeasure very clear.

One of the strengths that Smith often displays in her work is her depiction of dysfunctional families and their fractured relationships. "Louisiana Hotshot" is no exception to this rule. Another strength is her obvious love of New Orleans. No other writer has ever painted such a perfect picture of New Orleans in their work; it's quaintness and strangeness can be difficult to describe on paper. New Orleans is as much a character as Talba or Eddie. Unlike a lot of other writers, Smith understands the importance of locale and local color, and she brings New Orleans to life on the page like no one else.

I, for one, hope that Smith doesn't go so long between books again...she is a national treasure, and a law should be passed requiring her to write a book per year.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars First Class Read.....Spellbinding!!, September 24, 2001

By 

Marion "[e-mail]" (Louisiana) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Louisiana Hotshot: A Talba Wallis Novel (Hardcover)

This is my first of Julie Smith's books and I'm hopelessly hooked! I ran to the library as soon as I finished reading this one to check out the Skip Langdon series.....

The Baroness Pontalba is the hippest, smartest, coolest female detective I've read about in years. No ditzy, air-head here! Her relationship with her cantankerous boss, Eddie Valentino, was a special, touching part of the plot. I thoroughly enjoyed the subplots of the healing of Eddie's relationship with his estranged son and the Baroness's search for her father. Ms. Smith definitely knows New Orleans and her love and knowledge of the city shines through on every page. The dialogue was lively, sharp as a tack and captivating. I hated to read the last chapter---I wanted the story to go on and on. Ms. Smith, I hope and pray you're working on the next in a series with the enchanting Baroness!!! Thanks for a fabulous book from a fellow Louisiana native!!

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A grat new series from this fine author, May 1, 2001

By 

Harriet Klausner - See all my reviews
(#1 Hall OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Louisiana Hotshot: A Talba Wallis Novel (Hardcover)

She never intended to become a private detective, but when Talba Wallis saw the classified ad in the Times-Picayune, she applies for the job. Eddie Valentino of E.V. Anthony Investigations Service is impressed with the dossier Talba compiled on him and her brassy disrespect for her elders. She, in turn, feels her potential new boss is a sexist likable soul.

Eddie hires Talba sending her immediately into an investigation. An irate mother claims that her fourteen-year old daughter had sex with someone named Toes, an adult male. As Eddie and Talba make inquiries they quickly learn that Toes has influence in New Orleans as the police try to stalemate any progress the new sleuth makes. When other teenage girls vanish, Talba realizes something drastic must be done before others get hurt.

This is a different type of series than Julie Smith's Skip Langdon novels, but is as much fun. The eccentric and realistic characters bring out the hidden New Orleans while the relationship between Eddie and Talba is quite entertaining and amusing as they are two sides of the same cover. LOUISANA HOTSHOT is a smooth thriller that will brighten the reader's day.

Harriet Klausner