The Gates of Evangeline by Hester Young

by:  Hester Young
published by:  G.P. Putnam's Sons
publish date:  September 1, 2015

When New York journalist and recently bereaved mother Charlotte “Charlie” Cates begins to experience vivid dreams about children she’s sure that she’s lost her mind. Yet these are not the nightmares of a grieving parent, she soon realizes. They are messages and warnings that will help Charlie and the children she sees, if only she can make sense of them.

After a little boy in a boat appears in Charlie’s dreams asking for her help, Charlie finds herself entangled in a thirty-year-old missing-child case that has never ceased to haunt Louisiana’s prestigious Deveau family. Armed with an invitation to Evangeline, the family’s sprawling estate, Charlie heads south, where new friendships and an unlikely romance bring healing. But as she uncovers long-buried secrets of love, money, betrayal, and murder, the facts begin to implicate those she most wants to trust—and her visions reveal an evil closer than she could’ve imagined.

First, I had some issues.  I listened to the audiobook.  Evangeline in Louisiana is pronounced Evange-Lynn or in some rare cases Evange-Line (with a long I).  I've never heard anyone pronouncing it Evange-LEEN.  It was aggravating me.  The author also apparently had some kind of idea that people in Louisiana/Texas are just toting around guns all willy-nilly.  It was a really frustrating bias.  However, if I didn't live here, I probably wouldn't have picked up on.

The story is about Charlie who begins to experience psychic visions after she tragically loses her son.  She is presented with an opportunity to write a true crime novel about the infamous disappearance of the son of a wealthy Louisiana couple.  She decides to take the job when she begins to have dreams about a little boy asking her for help.  She moves onto the family estate and begins investigating the family and turns up more than she bargained for.

Other than the few issues I had, I did enjoy the story.  It was a well written mystery that had me engaged until the very end.  It looks like there will be more books featuring Charlie Cates in the future.  I will be looking forward to them.