Customer Reviews

Murder in the Garden District: A Chanse MacLeod Mystery (Chanse MacLeod Mysteries)

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Upon returning from a trip to visit his ailing mother in Texas, New Orleans gay private investigator Chanse MacLeod is hired by the matriarch of one of that city's socially and politically powerful families to investigate the murder of her son, who was preparing to run for the Senate. Chanse's assignment was to look for the murderer outside of the family, although there was compelling evidence to suggest that the killer was actually the man's wife, who considered him an abusive cheater, or even the matriarch herself, who was proved to have handled and shot the gun used in the slaying. Along the way, Chanse uncovers mysterious fatal "accidents" that seem to haunt the family, a payoff of a local businessman that appears to be blackmail, finds that a man who he helped convict may be trying to kill him, and suspects the disappearance of the man's college-student daughter may hold the key to the mystery. Meanwhile, Chanse, his friend Paige and his assistant, Abby, all survivors of the physical and emotional devastation of Hurricane Katrina years before, keep a wary eye on an approaching storm that threatens to hit New Orleans.

Greg Herren is a master storyteller, and the reigning king of gay mystery novels. In this fifth of the "Murder In The..." series featuring Chanse MacLeod, he continues to show his talent for engaging, emotionally-realistic characters and situations, which make his work a significant cut above the average. Absolutely five Cajun-spiced stars out of five!

- Bob Lind, Echo Magazine

Greg Herren is an award winning mystery writer. He's published four Chanse MacLeod mysteries, and a total of ten novels. His MURDER IN THE RUE CHARTRES garnered the Lambda Literary Award for Best Gay Men's mystery. He co-edited LOVE, BOURBON: Reflections of New Orleans, among other anthologies.

Chanse MacLeod is a New Orleans private eye. He lives in a gorgeous apartment, thanks to his friendship and working relationship with one Barbara Castlemaine. Barbara calls him in and pressures him to take a murder case for Cordelia Spencer Sheehan, one of Louisiana's most beloved, richest, and vindictive women. The Sheehans lived in a world of their own, unfazed by the rules most people live by. So when Cordelia's son is found murdered, and she took a shot from the murder weapon after finding his body, Chanse knows he is in for it. Particularly when Cordelia orders a "hands off" order to Chanse's investigation, which presupposes the "round up the usual suspects" approach:

"'Let me make myself clear, Mr. MacLeod,' she said contemptuously. 'As long as there is breath in my body, no one named Sheehan will go to prison for anything. No matter what I might think of her and what she has done, my daughter-in-law is a member of my family, and I will do everything in my power to ensure that she does not spend a single night behind bars for her crime-no matter how much I would enjoy seeing that happen. And I am not about to be painted as a murderer in a court of law to save her. My son had plenty of enemies. I want you to look outside my family. Is that clear?'"

Naturally, being an ex-cop, that is exactly where Chanse begins. Thus launches a tale of New Orleans politics; subterfuge; danger; and all that mystifies the rest of the country about New Orleans itself. Throw in a good dose of family dysfunction and Chanse's charm as a private investigator, and you have one heckuva good read.

MURDER IN THE GARDEN DISTRICT wins the reader over completely to the world of Chanse MacLeod. It ranks up with all the great movies and books about New Orleans, and should be a must read on any mystery buff's summer reading list.

Shelley Glodowski

Reviewer

Another great mystery by Greg Herren--I just love reading Mr. Herren's mysterys. Please keep them coming.

Chanse is back in the latest of the book series. WOW! Better than ever. Greg is the best author. For really one of the first of the books I did not expect the who done it to be who it was. All of the favorite characters are back in this wonderful mystery. The are twist and truns throughout the book.

The mystery is around the most powerful family in New Orleans and Lousiana. Chanse was highed by them to prove who did not kill the son. However they keep putting obstacles in his way along the journey. I could not put this down.

Totally recommend any of Greg Herren Books.

This is one of those mysteries that reminded me of the days of old. I didn't know the character was gay, but he's an excellent detective and this will have you wondering who done it, until you find out who did. Great book!

I fear I'm going to repeat myself quite a bit, if you've read any of my previous reviews of the Chanse MacLeod mysteries, but with that warning in mind I'll first say MURDER IN THE GARDEN DISTRICT was a fantastic, confounding mystery with real bite. If you've not read any of the previous books, you owe it to yourself to start at the beginning.

Now for the parts where I'm repeating myself.

First, if there's one single thing that drives me crazy in the mystery world, it's the lack of lasting effect. In many a mystery novel, the protagonist can be stabbed, stumble over six bodies, lose two lovers and get shot, but in the next book he's up and at 'em, with no lasting effects and a smile on his face. Greg Herren avoids this completely. Chanse MacLeod has history and scars; losses echo and reverberate with a realistic impact throughout the story. Nor is Chanse paralyzed or completely hobbled - he has a realism that I want to highlight, because it's so easy to miss, and so difficult to write. Simiarly, the other characters also grow. No one is a cardboard cut-out, and I catch myself wanting more information about Chanse's friends, as well.

Second, New Orleans is a living, breathing character in the series. Her face - pre and post Katrina - is deftly drawn, and you feel the heat right with the characters, all of whom deliver a realistic performance, right down to the patois.

Third, I never catch the bad guy before Chanse. I'll figure parts out, have suspicions turn out to be slightly correct, but I'm always left with a satisfied reading experience. Mystery to me is all about trying to figure it out along side the protagonist, and I love it when I realize the clues were all there, and I misinterpreted. I never feel swindled - nothing is the last minute absolute necessary piece of information, without which you didn't have a hope of figuring out the whodunnit.

In this particular book, Herren delves into the political machinations of the powerful in New Orleans, and a murder that lands Chanse a case where the money is too good and the motivation too sketchy. Untangling the web of the powerful is difficult, and to add to the drama, the recovering New Orleans is seeing another storm forming and bearing down upon her.

The tension is strong, the characters great, and the mystery superb. Go. Buy. Read.

Chanse MacLeod gets called in to help a friend to whom he owes much. These kinds of things frequently end badly. A bastion of New Orleans society wants the investigation of her son's murder to go away. Obviously this is not going to happen. The prime suspects are the son's wife and the bastion herself. No love is lost between these two women. As Chanse tries to find a way out of this mess that clears everyone and gets his friend off the hook, the mess just gets messier.

This was an enjoyable read, although I thought the sub-plot with Vinnie seemed forced to me. The New Orleans aspects are delightful, and the plot is all that anyone could want. There are four others in the Chanse MacLeod series; it is not necessary to read them in order, at least not based on my reading of this one. Do not be deterred by the fact that the main character is gay. There is no really "gay" element to the story, and the fact that Chanse is gay is fairly irrelevant to the mystery. It's actually quite refreshing to read a "gay mystery" that doesn't revolve around anyone's sexual orientation. Would that life were that easy.

Was it his mother or his wife who killed the Senate candidate from a powerful and wealthy New Orleans family? Our gay pot-smoking private eye investigates and discovers the answer may lie in a couple of long-ago "accidents" which many not have been so accidental--or does it? There is some unnecessary clutter in the narrative to pad the length but for the most part we leap from clue to clue, our brain cells working overtime. The climax, alas, is one of those Perry Mason revelations at the last moment which I always find unfair to the reader. One approaches Herren's books with great expectations but his work certainly is uneven.