N: A Romantic Mystery

by Louis Edwards

N: A Romantic Mystery opens with a bang, literally, as Aimee DuBois is awakened at three AM by the ringing of her phone. She lifts the receiver to her ear only to hear two loud gunshots. Somewhere in the humid New Orleans night, the handset of a pay phone dangles by its cord, picking up only the sound of footsteps running away in the dark. How did Aimee, a well-educated and independent journalist who runs an alternative newspaper, wind up on the other end of such a call? It all begins with the shooting of an eighteen-year-old boy on the steps of his high school. The only clue is a locket inscribed with the letter N. As Aimee investigates, she is befriended by a drug dealer named Strip, who is as sweet and sexy as he is dangerous. With Strip as her guide, Aimee plunges into a side of New Orleans that takes her by surprise - from Miss Margie, the forty-year-old, self-assured mother of three who controls the neighborhood drug trade, to dapper Doc Carey who runs the House of Champions, otherwise known as The New Orleans Boxing Club. As her investigation deepens, so do Aimee's feelings for Strip. Everything she's been taught to think about men like him is called into question, along with her ideas about herself and her community. N becomes more than just a clue to a killer - it becomes a clue to her own sense of self.

240 pages, Hardcover

First published May 1, 1997

Reviews

[Nadine Brown · Rating 3 out of 5]

5/17/11 finished this evening. OMG! A mystery indeed solved at the end. I never thought of the ending. I did get the last anagram. Let me know if you did.This is a page turner that has a style of making the reader 'view' the events of the story as if watching an old "genre, film noir". (tell me what you learn about that phase, in this book, is not mind boggling!)
Am loving the characters and style.

On loan via LINKS via Mtn View Library.

[Anne · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was OK. No amazing surprises or mysteries here. I had found this book in a stack of unread books that I had purchased long ago and figured I would give it a shot. It is set in my favourite city of New Orleans so it was a pleasure to read about sights and scenes in that city.

[Todd Stockslager · Rating 3 out of 5]

Slight effort, too much flashback and dialogue and change of perspective, written in a self-consciously cinematic style.

Not bad, but just OK.