Bourbon Street Burn…Sommerville Suspense #2 (Havana Heat…Sommerville Suspense #1, my review archive) Standalones
Blurb:
Restaurateur Anabelle Sommerville’s nightmares lead her to haunted New Orleans to solve the mystery of her past life as sultry Belle Duville. A dashing pirate, Alain Ducoeur, is crazy about her but he’s a ghost, whereas photographer Markus Cadeaux is sexy and alive. Voodoo priests, spirits and a vampire! Someone wants her dead. Everyone has a secret. Clues lead to a rundown plantation. With her sidekicks losing their kick, are Anabelle’s karate skills enough to take out gun-toting goons gunning for her?
First two paragraphs of opening chapter:
Chapter 1: THE FOOL
TO DIE FOR…
Shimmering vintage bourbon enhanced with Peychaud’s bitters, a dash of quality French Absinthe and the piėce de résistance—a squeeze of lime. With one slight change it was his concept. Rene sniffed, tossing a strand of black hair back from his forehead. He knew his version was more popular than Antoine’s. So what if he was a fraud for using their recipe. Stealing paid off. The wealthiest citizen of New Orleans, Jean Lafitte, was the most notorious pirate of them all. Lafitte gave them what they wanted, just like Rene Renard.
Tilting his glass to the light, the restaurateur admired the sparkling shades of bronze before bringing the Sazerac to his lips and throwing it back. The liquor burned his throat, searing its way down and finally punching his gut like exploding dynamite. Rene coughed, quickly reaching for the white linen handkerchief tucked in his breast pocket. After wiping his mouth he examined the red-stained cloth before tossing it on the table in disgust. Pushing the dinner plate loaded with steamed oysters away, he jiggled the table to steady himself and stood to his full height of six feet.