House of Blues

Skip Langdon #5

by Julie Smith

ASIN moved from less recent edition

DISTURBING FAMILY SECRETS, A CURIOUS KIDNAPPING, AND COLD-BLOODED MURDER HAUNT THIS GRITTY AND MYSTERIOUS SOUTHERN DRAMA.

Sugar Hebert arrives home from a ten-minute errand to find her husband shot to death and the rest of her family missing—including her daughter Reed, heir apparent to the Hebert restaurant dynasty, and Reed's eleven-month-old daughter.

Detective Skip Langdon’s hunt for a murderer and the missing Hebert heirs embraces worlds within worlds—splendid but dangerous Garden District digs, Faubourg Marigny drug dens, broken-down projects, lowdown bars, an elegant hangout for crooked politicos, and a dealer’s crib masquerading as a sultan’s palace, harem and all. A palm reader warns Langdon of danger, but it comes when she's least prepared for it. Before long, the mob’s involved (maybe there’s a reason Hebert’s Restaurant won the lucrative casino contract), and so are family secrets so ugly they’d make Tennessee Williams wince. Everyone has them—the Heberts, the mob princess, even the crooked cop.

And Langdon finds she should have listened to the damned palm reader.

Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Cozy Mystery, Mystery Thriller, Ebooks, Thriller, Crime

398 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1995

About the author

Author of 20 mystery novels and a YA paranormal adventure called BAD GIRL SCHOOL (formerly CURSEBUSTERS!). Nine of the mysteries are about a female New Orleans cop Skip Langdon, five about a San Francisco lawyer named Rebecca Schwartz,two about a struggling mystery writer named Paul Mcdonald (whose fate no one should suffer) and four teaming up Talba Wallis, a private eye with many names, a poetic license, and a smoking computer, with veteran P.I. Eddie Valentino.

In Bad GIRL SCHOOL, a psychic pink-haired teen-age burglar named Reeno gets recruited by a psychotic telepathic cat to pull a job that involves time travel to an ancient Mayan city. Hint:It HAS to be done before 2012!


Winner of the 1991 Edgar Allen Poe Award for best novel, that being NEW ORLEANS MOURNING.

Former reporter for the New Orleans TIMES-PICAYUNE and the San Francisco CHRONICLE.

Recently licensed private investigator, and thereon hangs a tale.

Resident of New Orleans, Louisiana

Reviews

[Joe Young · Rating 4 out of 5]

Skip Langdon is a different kind of detective (a six foot tall, tough but, attractive, intelligent cop) in a different environment (New Orleans, a one of a kind type of city). I was struck by the character of the city especially when compared to my only other exposure during the Katrina Hurricane crisis a couple of years ago. The expectation of larceny being part of any encounter with government and crooks being scattered among the righteous in the police departments also was an awakening for me. If you can handle or perhaps even enjoy shadowing a strong women with a well developed sense of what is right, this is a chance for your passions to be whetted. Julie Smith presents her characters as tough and invincible with a rough and tumble plot much like a Chamberlain detective story of old. If that is the type of character and story you enjoy, get your fix with one of the stories from the Skip Langdon Series. Julie Smith knows her way around a good police procedural exercise. The review to this point ignored the special food and drinks aspect of this deep south city, just an additional reason to peruse this book to garner a cultural understanding of this area.

[Kyle H · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was my first Skip Langdon mystery. I only bought it because I got a good deal on it (thanks BookBub!) and only read it because I was in a New Orleans mood. I'm glad I did. Very engaging and entertaining book. The author occasionally wrote from other (not main) characters' perspectives and it was very effective and believable. Bottom line: Good, deep characters; nice twists; well-done, evolving plot line; thorough knowledge of the city... definitely not my last Skip Langdon book.

[Paganalexandria]

01/28/19 currently free in Badass Broads
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0723HRKMB

[Julie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I got this book from the kindle library. This is the fifth Skip Langdon novel.
A prominent restaurant owner is killed in his own home and his daughter, son -in - law, and granddaughter are missing. Once again we are given insight into the personal lives of the upper classes in New Orleans.
While trying to find the missing family members, Skip deals with her unstable relationship with Steve.
Many gut wrenching tragedies occur in this one. A very dark period for Skip. While some parts were satisfying, others left me feeling disappointed. The conclusion was a variance on at least one other Skip Langdon novel. The ending left off in a dark place as well, leaving me feeling a little depressed.
This one was interesting, just a little darker than usual.
Overall a B -/ C +

[LJ · Rating 3 out of 5]

HOUSE OF BLUES - Good
Smith, Julie - 5th in Skip Langdon series

Finding local pressures rising when a crime wave peaks with the murder of a prominent restaurateur, New Orleans homicide detective Skip Langdon begins a detailed search for the killer, as well as for the victim's missing heirs.

I love books set in New Orleans. It wasn't great, but it was good.

[P A Stutt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Better than I expected

I had begun this book before. I knew that but I could not remember anything about it. Even when I started from the beginning it was unfamiliar. Obviously it did not make much of an impression.

It is called a thriller, but is not very thrilling. The characters are not well developed and seem superficial. The author might have worked through a list of character traits that had to be included. Rogue cop, check. Tall, imposing but insecure cop, check. Nice but distant love interest, check. Alcoholic but insightful friend, check.

Strangely, although it did seem to be written to a template, like a painting by numbers picture I enjoyed this book. By three quarters of the way through I had stopped being annoyed by the formulaic nature of the book, and the paragraphs in italics (I hate that). I began to enjoy it.

I found myself regretting that I was nearing the end of the book. that was not something I was expecting. I may well but the second in the series, not immediately,but at some point. A rather surprised, but deserved, 4 out of 5 stars.

[Laurie Hanan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely love this author, and especially this series! Over the years I'd read most of them, but not in order. Now I've decided to go back and read them in order and I'm so glad I did! Even though each novel stands alone, each builds on the one before and things make so much more sense. I adore the New Orleans backdrop, a city I've never had the fortune to visit but love reading about.The characters are so complex, they feel like real people to me. This book held me riveted from beginning to end.

[Maria do Socorro Baptista · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mais uma narrativa que nos mostra o quanto é difícil punir criminalmente pessoas detentoras de dinheiro e poder. Mas eu gostei porque, de alguma forma, a justiça foi feita, e a protagonista começa, finalmente, a se sentir aceita em seu ambiente de trabalho. Nunca foi fácil ser mulher, e ser mulher e querer ser uma boa policial sempre foi ainda mais complicado, visto que tal mundo sempre foi muito centrado no masculino, mas Skip consegue, mesmo com toda sua insegurança, se posicionar e fazer bem seu trabalho. Muito bom.

[Louise Pass · Rating 5 out of 5]

Intrepid detective solves the next mystery

This series just gets better and better. Kindle provides the opportunity to read thru an entire series, starting with the first book, even if it is out of print, and allows you to continue to the end. When you really enjoy the work of an author, it is wonderful to be able to do that. These books are worth reading.

[Lonnie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Meh

This book was just okay for me. I've read & enjoyed the Skip Langdon series but not so much with this one. I skimmed through a lot of mediocre pages to get to the end. Hopefully, the next book will be better.

[Linda · Rating 4 out of 5]

House of Blues

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. The characters were interesting and believable. The plot was intense and complex. I look forward to reading the next book in the series.

[Alicecake · Rating 5 out of 5]

Engaging, convoluded and unpredictable (at least, I didnt predict correctly). I enjoyed the New Orleans history, especially the background on the Kru organization. I wish there had been more character development up front, but then that might have made it more predictable...

[Diane · Rating 3 out of 5]

This series is entertaining. I like the main character because she faces her own personal issues as well as working out the crimes. This one has a cast of interesting characters and possibilities; never a dull moment.

[Jean · Rating 5 out of 5]

House of Blues

the story pulls you in from the first paragraph. A prominent family suffers the loss of the patriarch— then there are so many secrets that revealed. Gangsters, kidnapping, mob hits, it’s all there. The Big Easy is not so easygoing in the House of Blues.

[Larry Piper · Rating 3 out of 5]

A not very satisfying ending. Basically, we're dealing with a dysfunctional family. It wasn't clear to me that the "culprits" were properly recognized and treated accordingly. But overall, it was an ok read. Perhaps a 3*+ were GoodReads to allow such a thing.

[Sandra · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoy this writer. I enjoy this character, while the ending wasn't my favorite--I see why it had to end that way to show that things do bother Skip. Looking forward to the next book in the series.

[Dasha · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not as much fun to read as some others in this series. A very convoluted plot. Still, a series I like and will read more of.

[Ann Johnson · Rating 5 out of 5]

2nd time around

I read this as part of a collection of Skip Langdon stories a couple of years ago, and enjoyed it all over again.

[Pat Beard · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the best yet of the series. Skip is becoming ever more complex as a character. The mystery is first rate. And New Orleans is just as much a character, varied and intricate.

[Millie Bentley · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked it enough to finish it, but what an ending! It seems as though the author couldn't figure out how to end it after the murder is solved.

[Arthur Peter, Jr. · Rating 5 out of 5]

This the second in the series that I have read. Great complex character. I am hooked.

[Cheryl Hale · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was very interesting, hard for me to stop reading.

[Joan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I always like the series focusing on Skip Langdon. I especially liked this
book because it showed more of Skip's personality and more of her personal
life.

[Patrick · Rating 4 out of 5]

I got this book free from Kindle. It was a decent read, it certainly showed the darker side of NOLA.

[Pat Oatman · Rating 2 out of 5]

Language is objectionable.

I am not comfortable with the bad language used so freely. There is no need for it, in order to tell the story.

[Debbie "Buried in Her TBR Pile"]

Own in: Badass Broads

[Kay Schweers · Rating 4 out of 5]

I didn’t see the point in the pages devoted to Grady’s writing. Otherwise I liked it.

[Joel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another great summer reading novel by Julie Smith. New Orleans, police, murder, humor......

[Jackson · Rating 5 out of 5]

terrifying, terrific

[Bob · Rating 3 out of 5]

Skip Langdon is at it again working on the case of the death a prominent New Orleans restaurant owner who was killed at a family dinner at his own house. Again Skip is having to deal with a rather dysfunctional family and the seamier side of New Orleans life to solve this one.