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Benjamin January
Hagar
A novelette of 13,000 words in the Benjamin January Free Man of Color historical mystery series. Benjamin is out of town again, and his wife Rose attends a party with her obnoxious mother-in-law, at a plantation owned by a free colored relative. When the white mistress of the neighboring plantation is murdered, and the house burned, it seems obvious that one of the household slaves committed the crime - but Rose seeks to prove differently.
43 pages, Kindle Edition
First published July 13, 2015
About the author
Barbara Hambly
182 books1,639 followersaka Barbara Hamilton
Ranging from fantasy to historical fiction, Barbara Hambly has a masterful way of spinning a story. Her twisty plots involve memorable characters, lavish descriptions, scads of novel words, and interesting devices. Her work spans the Star Wars universe, antebellum New Orleans, and various fantasy worlds, sometimes linked with our own.
"I always wanted to be a writer but everyone kept telling me it was impossible to break into the field or make money. I've proven them wrong on both counts."
-Barbara Hambly
Ranging from fantasy to historical fiction, Barbara Hambly has a masterful way of spinning a story. Her twisty plots involve memorable characters, lavish descriptions, scads of novel words, and interesting devices. Her work spans the Star Wars universe, antebellum New Orleans, and various fantasy worlds, sometimes linked with our own.
"I always wanted to be a writer but everyone kept telling me it was impossible to break into the field or make money. I've proven them wrong on both counts."
-Barbara Hambly
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
May 6, 2016
This 13,000 word novelette takes place while Benjamin January is away from home (dealing with the events in Good Man Friday). Rose is invited to a party, and, as is the way of things in books, the events of the evening don't just include music and dancing.
There is a fire at a neighbouring plantation, and the burned body of a white woman - the mistress of the plantation - is discovered. Her maid is blamed, and all the slaves on the plantation are at risk of being executed for complicity in the death. Naturally, Rose investigates.
It was good to see Rose on her own - I do like Ben, but it's nice for Rose to have her time in the sun. Hannibal also has a part to play, as does Lieutenant Shaw. For me, though, the character that really stole the show was Livia, Ben's mother. I know a lot of people don't like her, and you could see her as a straightforward gossip and crashing snob, but I see her as much more complex than that. In this little novelette, we get a tiny little window into Livia's world - the world of a woman who was a slave through the whole earlier part of her life, had to give up her husband and the father of her two children, and has finally "made it" to the upper echelons of New Orleans free-coloured society. Livia Levesque is neither stupid nor shallow, and this novelette shows that quite nicely.
There is a fire at a neighbouring plantation, and the burned body of a white woman - the mistress of the plantation - is discovered. Her maid is blamed, and all the slaves on the plantation are at risk of being executed for complicity in the death. Naturally, Rose investigates.
It was good to see Rose on her own - I do like Ben, but it's nice for Rose to have her time in the sun. Hannibal also has a part to play, as does Lieutenant Shaw. For me, though, the character that really stole the show was Livia, Ben's mother. I know a lot of people don't like her, and you could see her as a straightforward gossip and crashing snob, but I see her as much more complex than that. In this little novelette, we get a tiny little window into Livia's world - the world of a woman who was a slave through the whole earlier part of her life, had to give up her husband and the father of her two children, and has finally "made it" to the upper echelons of New Orleans free-coloured society. Livia Levesque is neither stupid nor shallow, and this novelette shows that quite nicely.
July 29, 2015
Novelette in the Benjamin January series; takes place parallel to Good Man Friday; it's a murder mystery starring Rose (and Hannibal, and most surprisingly, Ben's mom Livia). One of the things I love about this series is the recurring background players and how over time, they become as familiar as actual neighbors. The story is enjoyable on its own merits but I especially loved how this gave us a little more time with and a little more insight to Livia, who has always been rather opaque as seen through the eyes of her son.
May 3, 2018
I picked this one up on Barbara Hambly’s Smashwords page. It’s a novelette set during the time when Benjamin January is off in Washington(Good Man Friday)investigating a disappearance and a murder and meeting Edgar Allan Poe. His wife Rose goes with her mother-in-law Livia, her husband’s nephew and her sister-in-law Olympe’s in-laws to a masquerade party and finds herself investigating a murder closer to home, with the help of her husband’s delightful Irish friend, the fiddler Hannibal Sefton, who was playing at the party. And also - Livia! If you’re familiar with the series, you know that free man of colour Benjamin January’s mother Livia Levesque is a snooty woman who wouldn’t have the likes of his other white friend, policeman Abishag Shaw, in her nice clean house. However, she knows absolutely everything that’s going on and everyone in the free coloured community, through gossip. And that means she can tell Rose a lot of things she needs to know to help solve the mystery. One thing she does towards the end of the story, while Rose, Hannibal and Abishag are off asking questions delighted me so much that I will never see Livia in the same light again.
I found myself falling comfortably back into this universe. I do recommend that you read at least some of the books before trying this extension.
This is part of Barbara Hambly’s “Further Adventures” stories, in which she tells extra tales in the lives of her characters from the various series she has done over the years, plus a few Sherlock Holmes tales. You can get some of them on iBooks, all of them on Smashwords.
I found myself falling comfortably back into this universe. I do recommend that you read at least some of the books before trying this extension.
This is part of Barbara Hambly’s “Further Adventures” stories, in which she tells extra tales in the lives of her characters from the various series she has done over the years, plus a few Sherlock Holmes tales. You can get some of them on iBooks, all of them on Smashwords.
December 30, 2017
Ben January’s wife and mother share a mystery of their own. Readers already know that Rose is of an intellectual and inquiring mind, but this novella puts a new, and intriguing spin on Livia ( who seems to spend most of her time in these novels as a snobby scold).
August 1, 2019
A good short book in the series. I enjoyed seeing more of what are usually somewhat background characters. I wouldn't recommend starting with this, but I think if you did, it would leave you intrigued and wanting to read the rest of them.
September 4, 2023
Novelette, set in the Benjamin January series with his wife with Rose as the protagonist. Good story, excellent world-building, with the title echoing the theme... It was interesting to see Rose interact with her formidable not-very-nice mother-in-law.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews