Customer Reviews

Midnight Confessions

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Candice Proctor has beautifully weaved a suspenseful murder mystery set in 1862 New Orleans at the time it was occupied by enemy union soldiers under the command of General Benjamin Butler during the Civil War. Emmanuelle de Beauvais, French born and widowed, hates the union soldiers who have taken over her city.

The story begins with Emmanuelle and friend, Dr. Henri Santerre, visiting deceased relatives' tombs in the now famous St. Louis Cemetery. While there, Henri Santerre is murdered by a bolt shot from a crossbow.

Major Zachary X. Cooper, U. S. Cavalry, is assigned by General Benjamin Butler to investigate the murder. Zach Cooper wears the uniform and serves the war Emmanuelle abhors.

Being the sole witness to the murder, Zach interviews Emmanuelle. As the investigation progresses, the body count and the number of suspects increase. As enemies on opposite sides of the war, Emmanuelle's and Zach's mutual distrust keep complicating the budding romance that is trying to take root. As the distrust is slowly and painfully peeled away layer by layer, the sexual tension between them slowly escalates until they can no longer contain their long denied urges and desires.

Emmanuelle and Zach are realistically portrayed as dynamic characters who have deep seated demons with which they must grapple and closely guarded secrets which they must not allow to be revealed. Even the secondary characters are interesting, exciting, and realistic. My favorite is Captain Hamish Fletcher, a tall man "with a flowing mane of fiery hair and a splendid pair of handlebar mustaches" who served as a New York City police officer before the war. Captain Hamish is Zach's assistant in the murder investigation and serves as Zach's fact gatherer, gopher, and conscience and provides comic relief when the tension has mounted.

Every page is filled with suspense and intrigue and most chapters end with exciting cliffhangers that held me captive from the very first page to the absolute last page. Two-thirds of the way through the book, the plot reveals surprises that escalate an already suspenseful and exciting murder mystery to a new and higher level. Candice Proctor is truly "A Consummate Storyteller" as the book's cover describes her. This is the third book that I've read by Candice Proctor and it's not going to be the last. I can't wait to start the next one.

If you like murder mysteries, historical romance, suspense romance, or just a plain old good read, Midnight Confessions will satisfy. I highly recommend it.

This was my first Candice Proctor book and I was pleasantly surprised. However, I wish she would have concentrated more on their romance than who killed who. Before I knew it, he was in love with her and he was much too understanding about the constant lying she did to him. There was a lot of beating around the bush when he was trying to get to the bottom of the murders also. Nobody would give him a straight answer and again, I thought he was much too understanding for being a provost marshal. But the story was good and I'm looking forward to reading more of her books.

Ms. Proctor's books are generally well-written, her heroes are enigmatic and wounded, her heroines are complex and strong. In this suspenseful tale, we are given a rare glimpse into the world of Old New Orleans.

It kept me wondering who amongst the characters was the true killer and it may take you to the last few pages before you have an inkling of who it really is. I liked the way Ms. Proctor weaved the intricate tapestry of the Creole lifestyle and that of the Civil War time period together. The whole book has a nostalgic feel to it, almost reminded me of how I felt when I'd first read Gone With The Winds.

The only drawback I could see to this book is that the heroine lacks a certain depth to her and I couldn't get that feeling of being close to her. I didn't like her as much as I liked the other heroines from Night in Eden and September Moon.

It is still worth a read though it wont join Night in Eden and September Moon on my keeper shelf.

In 1862 in occupied New Orleans, widow Emmanuelle de Bourdonnay and her partner Dr. Henri Santerre leave their hospital to visit deceased loved ones buried at St. Louis cemetery. However an unknown assailant fires a specialty silver tipped crossbow bolt used to slay vampires killing Henri.

Union Major Zachary Cooper is General Butler's Provost Marshal. Though a local Creole was murdered, Zach refuses to let the investigation die. He knows Emmanuelle is in the middle of the homicide, but not sure how or why. He believes she lies by hiding all she knows, but is her omissions intended to protect the identity of the killer, namely herself? As he digs deeper he finds himself falling in love with the possible murderous. Emmanuelle begins to reciprocate his feelings, which make her feel guilt, as she hates the Bluecoats especially since they killed her late husband.

MIDNIGHT CONFESSIONS is a powerful Civil War police procedural romance that never slows down until the killer is identified. The atmosphere seeps through every page as the audience gains an understanding of how the natives felt about the northern occupation army living and stealing from them. The lead couple is dynamic and courageous as star-crossed lovers with seemingly everyone including one another dismayed by their feelings. Though the culprit seems a bit of a stretch, Candice Proctor furbishes the audience with a strong historical intrigue that will garner the author new readers from non-romance buffs as well as delightful responses from her myriad of fans.

Harriet Klausner

Favorite scene with Emmanuelle-
Almost being hurt by an Irish thief.

Favorite scene with Zach-
Finally discovering the truth of who the killer is.

Together-
Making love.

What did you like about Emmanuelle-
Her strength, her stubborness, her willing to help and protect others. Her love for her
son.

What didn't you like about Emmanuelle-
That she took stupid risks, going out alone, knowing a killer was on the loose. That
she kept secrets from Zach, even if the secrets could destroy others. Her sexuality,
esp. knowing the truth about her partners.

What did you like about Zach-
His diuty to his country and his job and his vulnerability, esp. re: his past.

What didn't you like about Zach-
There wasn't anything I didn't like about Zach.

I have always admired Candice Proctor's abilit to write an acurate historical account of an era. Throguh the use of her characters she is able to lead the reader into the world as it was in that particullar time and place. She is a talented story teller who uses colorful discription to create "real" characters to tell her story.

Emmanuelle de Beauvais, a widowed single mother and a woman who goes against the social grain of the time by quietly practicing as a doctor, hates the Union forces who have occupied New Orleans. Zachary Cooper, a Union provost marshal, is called to investigate a murder in which Emmanuella is not only the only known witness, but also the prime suspect. Emmanuelle while knowing she is a suspect, and trying to answer all of the questions Cooper throws at her without giving away too much of her own past and identity has questions of her own. The biggest being whether the arrow that killed her collegue and friend had actually been meant for her. Her fear intensifies when other friends, also associated with the hospital, are murdered. Of course this only makes Cooper veiw her as an even stronger suspect.

Proctor uses a few phrases a few times to many, but despite this she is in top form. This novel has it all. Romantic involvment that isn't your run of the mill variety, coupled with characters you can love, respect and beleive in make this a must read.

A breath taking read. From the first page, you are drawn into a world of deceit, murder and romance... balanced well so as not to be the classic "romance novel" with the unbelievable plot. Ms. Proctor has given the characters such life that you feel as if you know them personally and the book leaves you wanting to know more... The conflicting personalities of Emanuel (a French woman living in Civil War Louisiana) and Zachary Cooper (The Union Provist Marshall) make for an interesting courtship... both wanting to mistrust the other due to their circumstances, but undeniably drawn to each other. A great escape.

The story started out a little dull for me, partly because I just finished a different book and was waiting for something exciting to happen. The plot was interesting enough: a murder mystery during the Civil War, and both the main characters were likable. However I wish that the author wrote about Zach with more feeling, like showing what was he thinking more, especially in the middle, when all it seems like he's doing is questioning suspects over and over. Also I don't really understand how he and Emmanuelle fell in love. In the first 'foreplay' scene, it seems that all of a sudden they were attracted to each otherout of nowhere! Usually I become emotionally attached to the characters, but I didn't for Zach and Emmanuelle. Still, overall the book was entertaining and around the middle of the book I couldn't put it down!

A gripping, suspenseful tale set during the Civil War in occupied New Orleans, Midnight Confessions is dark and haunting, and not a little creepy - though I'm a big coward, so don't take my word for it on the last bit. Still, I really enjoyed this book. I usually don't go for murder mysteries, but I'm set on reading everything by Candice Proctor so I couldn't turn this one down. If you approach the book more as a mystery than a romance, I think your chances of enjoying Midnight Confessions increase considerably. I still loved the romance part - and Zach Cooper and Emmanuelle de Beauvais are a couple of fascinating, strong characters - but their developing relationship and practically every conversation is entirely determined by the plot, the series of murders that confound and terrorize them. In this sense, the romance was a tad overwhelmed by the suspense plot. Apart from the hero and heroine, the city of New Orleans is as much a character in its own right here, and I think that's why I enjoyed reading Midnight Confessions. No one creates atmosphere like Proctor, and the dangerous, beautiful city comes so alive here, the perfect backdrop for mystery and violence, dark secrets, death, passion, and love.

I really couldn't say whether the mystery itself was that well crafted or skillfully executed because that's not really my bag, baby, and I think in cases like these I'm easily satisfied. Though I will say that, while I liked all the different elements, characters, and intersecting relationships that were set into play to create the mystery, how they all fell into place, and the denouement was a let down. Things that were supposed to be the big, scandalous, twisted mystery, had been apparent/obvious all along, and the exposition unnecessary, leaving me to feel that something didn't go quite right with the story being told, the puzzle that was constructed. But still, I really liked Zach and Emmanuelle together, especially the surprise that he's younger than her. This was an engrossing read for me, despite my qualms.

The book is well written and the story is involving. My problem with the book is the author's attempt to rationalize slavery. Although her heroine is against slavery and owns no slaves, she supports the confederacy based on the rationalization that treatment of industrial workers in the north is so terrible. While the northern workers certainly had terrible lives, unlike slaves, they were not owned by their employers; they were not held to their employers by law and chased down with dogs and guns if they tried to leave. Given the author's previous books which showed such empathy and depth of support for the convict-workers in Australia, I was very disturbed by her point of view in this book. It took away from my enjoyment of the book and made me wonder whether I will be able to read her next book with any degree of comfort.