Benjamin January Mysteries

[annwfyn]

So I'm reading the Benjamin January mysteries by Barbara Hambly and they are, to my mind, pretty much perfect.

They are a series of murder mysteries set in New Orleans in the 1830s, with the lead character being Benjamin January, a free man of colour (which was, apparently a term used at the time and used with a great deal of pride by New Orleans free Black community). "What's that?" I hear you say. "New Orleans and history? Aren't those two of the things that Sallys like the most?"

"Why yes," say I. "They absolutely are". I will admit that I'm not an expert on this period, but the books feel well researched (OK, so some of the racial politics and feminism sometimes seems fuelled a little bit by modern sensibilities) and are gloriously rich in detail. The characters are amazingly varied (PoC, queer, trans) but never feel remotely shoehorned in in their diversity. And I usually can't guess whodunnit, although I will say that sympathetic characters so far have tended to stay sympathetic and the bad guys have been reasonably unpleasant from the start. I'm hoping this changes as the books progress because I like a bit of a sting in the tail.

If you like murder mysteries, history, New Orleans and strong characters of colour, you should read these. They come highly recommended.

Also, it appears that LJ is still the best place I know for things like book reviews. Tumblr won't let me put in proper paragraph breaks, and G+ and facebook don't really feel like the right place to discuss anything with more complexity than you can fit in a single sentence. So here I am.

Comments

[bringeroflight.livejournal.com]

I am trying to find good things to put up on LJ.

[cairmen.livejournal.com]

Have you read Barbara Hambly in the past? If not, I heartily recommend all her fantasy too.

Even given all the choices out there, she's still probably my favourite author of all time.

[annwfyn.livejournal.com]

I've read one of her vampire novels and I think the first of her Darwath trilogy a long time ago. I'm planning on going through them all now, just because I've enjoyed the Benjamin January novels so much. She is a very good writer.

[lanfykins.livejournal.com]

Ah yes, Those Who Hunt The Night. I still miss my copy *snf*

I should have thought to recommend the Benjamin January books to you, but I clean forgot. Well, that and I've only read the first one. Are the others as good?

[annwfyn.livejournal.com]

I'm on the fourth one now and I'm really enjoying them. I'd say the quality comes and goes a little bit, but which ones you enjoy more than others probably depends on personal taste as each one tends to cover a specific 'issue'. So I liked the voodoo one less than I liked the 'going undercover as a slave' one, but I think your mileage may vary.

[badgersandjam.livejournal.com]

I enjoy Benjamin January.