A Free Man of Color is a novel written by Barbara Hambly. Released in 1997, it is the first novel featuring recurring protagonist Benjamin January and features him investigating the murder of an "octoroon" that the authorities are reluctant to investigate.
Characters[]
- Benjamin January
- Angelique Crozat
rest to be added
Publisher's Summary[]
A lush and haunting novel of a city steeped in decadent pleasures...and of a man, proud and defiant, caught in a web of murder and betrayal.
It is 1833. In the midst of Mardi Gras, Benjamin January, a Creole physician and music teacher, is playing piano at the Salle d'Orleans when the evenings festivities are interrupted--by murder.
Ravishing Angelique Crozat, a notorious octoroon who travels in the city's finest company, has been strangled to death. With the authorities reluctant to become involved, Ben begins his own inquiry, which will take him through the seamy haunts of riverboatmen and into the huts of voodoo-worshipping slaves.
But soon the eyes of suspicion turn toward Ben—for, black as the slave who fathered him, this free man of color is still the perfect scapegoat....
Full Summary[]
(PLACEHOLDER)
See also[]
| Title | Author | Release date | Significance |
|---|---|---|---|
| A Stained White Radiance | James Lee Burke | 1992 | A crime novel set in New Orleans |
| Yellow Jack | Josh Russell | 1999 | A novel set in New Orleans around the same time that this novel is set |
| Pure Instinct | Robert W. Walker | 1996 | A crime novel set in New Orleans |
Sources[]
- Goodreads