Let The Dead Sleep by Heather Graham
ISBN: 9780778315056 (hardcover)
ISBN: 9781460309728 (ebook)
ASIN: B00ALTVI6K (Kindle edition)
Publisher: Mira
Publication date: March 26, 2013
It was stolen from a New Orleans grave – the centuries-old bust of an evil man, a demonic man. It’s an object desired by collectors – and by those with wickedness in their hearts.
One day, its current owner shows up at Danni Cafferty’s antiques shop on Royal Street, the shop she inherited from her father. But before Danni can buy the statue, it disappears, the owner is found dead…and Danni discovers that she’s inherited much more than she realized. In the store is a book filled with secret writing: instructions for defeating evil entities. She’d dismissed it as a curiosity…until the arrival of this statue, with its long history of evil and even longer trail of death.
Michael Quinn, former cop and now private investigator, is a man with an unusual past. He believes that doing the right thing isn’t a job – it’s a way of life. And the right thing to do is find and destroy this object weighted with malevolent powers. He and Danni are drawn together in their search for the missing statue, following it through sultry New Orleans nights to hidden places in the French Quarter and secret ceremonies on abandoned plantations.
Cafferty and Quinn already know that trust in others can be misplaced, that love can be temporary. And yet their connection is primal. Mesmerizing. They also know that their story won’t end when this case is closed and the dead rest in peace once again.
Danielle “Danni” Cafferty leads a very “normal” life as an artist in New Orleans. She’s still grieving the death of her father, Angus Cafferty, and is focused on running the family business, an antique and curio shop. Her life is forever changed when Mrs. Gladys Simon enters her shop and wants to give her an antique marble bust. Mrs. Simon states that the bust is evil, responsible for her husband’s suicide and she wants it removed from her home. If that wasn’t strange enough, Danni must contend with the appearance of Michael Quinn, a private investigator, who informs her that he used to work with her father and he’s willing to help her get the bust as it is imbued with evil. Sadly, when Danni and Quinn arrive at Mrs. Simon’s home she is found dead of an apparent suicide and the bust is missing. Danni begins to feel as if she’s walked into an episode of the Twilight Zone as things go from strange to downright bizarre in their search to find the mysterious bust before more evil is released and more people die.
Let the Dead Sleep is the first in a new series by Ms. Graham. This is a paranormal-mystery-suspense-romance that is shades of the Twilight Zone meets the SyFy channel’s Warehouse 13. Danni has inherited more than just her father’s store, she has also inherited his sometime partner, Michael Quinn and a mysterious family heirloom called The Book of Truth. Although Danni has some difficulty believing in the so-called “evil” nature of an inanimate object, she quickly becomes a believer after discussions with some of her father’s friends. Let the Dead Sleep introduces some interesting characters as Danni and Quinn’s support system, such as Father John Ryan, Natasha (a local Voodoo priestess and business owner), Billie McDougall – longtime business associate and friend of Angus Cafferty, Detective Larue of the New Orleans Police Department, and Wolfe – a retired canine police officer. Ms. Graham has crafted another great read with Let the Dead Sleep. The characters are strange, quirky and yet wholly believable. I found Let the Dead Sleep to be a rather fast read and even though I had pretty much guessed the accomplices to the bad guy (no I will not reveal that information, read it for yourself), I still enjoyed this story. If you enjoy mystery-suspense with hints of romance and loads of the paranormal, then you’ll definitely want to add Let the Dead Sleep to your reading list.
Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book free for review purposes from the publisher via NetGalley. I was not paid, required or otherwise obligated to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”
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