The Mardi Gras Murder

Book excerpt: Reverie turns deadly when a secret society of New Orleans elites is infiltrated by a killer in this classic 1930s mystery. For years New Orleans has been enthralled by the secret society dedicated to Dis, Greek god of Inferno, whose membership of fifty is closely guarded from the press and whose rites burlesque the proud tradition of the city’s Mardi Gras festival. Lovely Cynthia Fontenay gives Dis a ball each year, with all members in attendance behind satanic masks and sinister robes of black and scarlet. When murder strikes this charmed circle, a shadow is cast over the city. Homicide detective Captain Murphy once again enlists the help of Wade, a New Orleans journalist, to confront an investigation of fifty suspects. As their smoldering motives become front page news, the Crescent City awaits the finale of this chilling carnival of a case.