We are absolutely thrilled to bring you the Review/Excerpt Tour for BLOOD ON THE BAYOU by Heather Graham! BLOOD ON THE BAYOU is A Cafferty & Quinn Series Novella brought to you by 1001 Dark Nights. It is available now, so grab your copy of this sexy novella today!
Author: Heather Graham
Publisher: Evil Eye Concepts. Inc
Date of publication: January 2016
It's winter and a chill has settled over New Orleans, binding a stream of blood that leads a tourist to a dead man, face down in the bayou.
The man has been done in by a vicious beating, so violent that his skull has been crashed in.
It's barely a day before a second victim is found . . . once again so badly thrashed that the water runs red. The city becomes riddled with fear.
An old family friend comes to Danni Cafferty, telling her that he's terrified, he's certain that he's received a message from the Blood Bayou killer--It's your turn to pay, blood on the bayou.
The two quickly become involved, and--as they all begin to realize that a gruesome local history is being repeated--they find themselves in a fight to save not just a friend, but, perhaps, their very own lives.
Blood on the Bayou is a quick novella featuring the characters from the Cafferty & Quinn series. I have read all of the books in this series and have enjoyed it. Danni inherited her father's business along with his quest for evil objects in order to keep them from harming the innocent. Quinn used to help her father on his quest and now helps Danni. It's a bonus that they have a great relationship as well. Taking place in the city of New Orleans, each story is filled with the rich history of the region. They are also filled with a great cast of characters that round out each mystery very nicely.
Blood on the Bayou is a great addition to the series. After a body is found in the swamp, locals are convinced a rougarou (wolfman) has returned to begin a killing spree like the one twenty years earlier. Quinn and Danni quickly become involved on the case when it seems that there may be an evil artifact in the mix. I though this was a great mystery, if a bit creepy. But that added to the enjoyment of it. I didn't solve it ahead of the characters, so that was a bonus.
I think you probably could read this as a stand alone. If anything, I think it will entice you to want to start with the first book, Let the Dead Sleep.
Excerpt:
“People in this area all know the legends about the rougarou. Someone out there might be
using the legend. In this day and age, it’s quite possible to fake a monster.”
They both looked at him with huge eyes, seemingly wanting to
trust in him.
“Sound like a plan?” Quinn asked Larue.
The detective nodded. “Let’s move, though. We have to get
out to Honey Swamp. We’re going to help the task force with the investigation.”
Ten minutes later they were at the hotel where the young
women were staying. Quinn inspected the balcony while they gathered their
belongings together. The room sat on the second floor, but the balcony might
have been easily accessed from the street. There was a heavy pipe near enough
for someone to crawl up and gain a grip on one of the wrought iron rails. “How
did someone walk through the French Quarter all dressed up without being noticed?”
“This is New Orleans,” Larue said. “Not far from Bourbon
Street. Think about it, Quinn. Does anyone really notice crazy around here? I mean, there’s a lot of crazy.”
“Something like the rougarou?
A giant man with a wolf’s head?”
“Somebody walked stark naked down Bourbon Street about two
days ago, and it took that long for anyone to report it to the police,” Larue
told him.
“That’s not a rougarou.”
Larue
shrugged. “Okay. I’ll give you that.”
“To put a spin of logic on this, I’d say that it was more
than possible for a man to dress up, then crawl up here to scare Jane and Lana.
It’s also possible that whoever was here had nothing to do with the murder in
the swamp, or maybe someone got wind of the situation and knew that the two
young women had been on the tour and decided to scare them. They’re visitors,
yes, but they know the city and they might have met a young man anxious to
scare them. Then he comes along and offers his presence as protection against
whatever has them frightened.”
Larue did not argue.
“At any
rate,” Quinn said. “Let’s go meet your friends from Pearl River.”
About the author:
New York Times and USA Today best-selling author Heather Graham majored in theater arts at the University of South Florida. After a stint of several years in dinner theater, back-up vocals, and bartending, she stayed home after the birth of her third child and began to write, working on short horror stories and romances. After some trial and error, she sold her first book, WHEN NEXT WE LOVE, in 1982 and since then, she has written over one hundred novels and novellas including category, romantic suspense, historical romance, vampire fiction, time travel, occult, and Christmas holiday fare. She wrote the launch books for the Dell’s Ecstasy Supreme line, Silhouette’s Shadows, and for Harlequin’s mainstream fiction imprint, Mira Books.
Heather was a founding member of the Florida Romance Writers chapter of RWA and, since 1999, has hosted the Romantic Times Vampire Ball, with all revenues going directly to children’s charity.
She is pleased to have been published in approximately twenty languages, and to have been honored with awards from Waldenbooks. B. Dalton, Georgia Romance Writers, Affaire de Coeur, Romantic Times, and more. She has had books selected for the Doubleday Book Club and the Literary Guild, and has been quoted, interviewed, or featured in such publications as The Nation, Redbook, People, and USA Today and appeared on many newscasts including local television and Entertainment Tonight.
Heather Graham’s BLOOD ON THE BAYOU – Review & Excerpt Tour Schedule:
January 27th
January 28th
January 29th
January 30th
January 31st
February 1st
February 2nd
February 3rd
February 4th
February 5th
A Brief History of Seven Killings: I usually really like any book that's on the Man Book Award list of nominees. This one was the 2015 Winner so I figured it was going to be really good. It was so complicated and hard to understand. It had too many points of view and they just weren't coming together in a way I could understand. That, and the Jamaican accent of the audiobook readers were so heavy at times I couldn't figure out a word they were saying.
Sea of Tranquility: I was hoping for a good YA romance. Instead, I got an angsty mess. I didn't like any of the characters. The whole things was just too depressing that I gave up.
Whistling Past the Graveyard: I found the main character of the book annoying. After the first couple of chapters, I was bored.
