“Bill Loehfelm’s razor-sharp The Devil in Her Way is everything you want a crime novel to be: morally twisty, richly textured, and filled with soul. And perhaps its greatest gift is the battered-but-not-broken Maureen Coughlin, a hero with whom we will go anywhere.” —Megan Abbott, Author of Dare Me

Please join us for a reading and signing with Bill Loehfelm featuring his first New Orleans-set novel, THE DEVIL IN HER WAY, the latest in is Maureen Coughlin series.

The last time we saw Maureen Coughlin she had packed up her Staten Island apartment and quit her waitressing job at the Narrows—nothing like your boss turning up dead to make you reconsider your career options. After the death of his killer, Coughlin figures the smartest thing she can do is beat feet for New Orleans, which is where The Devil in Her Way finds her, fresh out of the police academy.

Her first day on patrol, Maureen is brutally punched, seemingly for no reason, by a beanpole of a black man bursting out of an apartment building. Her training officer laughs it off, and the incident even yields a small victory: The cops recover two pounds of weed and three guns in a shoe box. But as she watches the street, Maureen sees something transpire between two boys that leaves her shaken, and she’s sure that there’s more to this story than it seems.

 

When small, touch Maureen first appeared in The Devil She Knows, the Times-Picayune called her “the character of the year” and Booklist described her “as compelling a character as this reviewer expects to see this year.” John Connolly, author of The Wrath of Angels, writes, “The Devil in Her Way is not only Bill Loehfelm’s best book yet—it may just be the best mystery novel to come out of post-Katrina New Orleans since James Lee Burke’s The Tin Roof Blowdown. I can offer no higher praise than to say that I finished it and wanted to read more. A gem.”

Early praise for The Devil In Her Way indicates that Loehfelm and Maureen are both living up to their promise:

“Loehfelm meshes graceful prose with edgy suspense and an authentic view of New Orleans’ myriad neighborhoods, bars, and restaurants, where a ‘Café du Monde frozen au lait’ is ‘the closest thing in this world to ambrosia.’”—Publishers Weekly (starred review)

“In The Devil She Knows (2011), Loehfelm introduced an indelible character, 29-year-old Staten Island cocktail waitress Maureen Coughlin. Smart, tough, and desperate to escape an empty life, Coughlin realized that “somewhere else she could be someone else.” . . . Previously, Loehfelm made New York’s least-known borough, Staten Island, a genuinely compelling

character. Incrementally, he does even more with New Orleans—a shambolic city in the best of times—still devastated by Hurricane Katrina. His portrait of the city and its residents is tragic, elegaic, hopeful, and even loving. Crime aficionados will love The Devil in Her Way, and librarians should consider recommending it to any reader who seeks wonderfully drawn, complicated, deeply human characters and a brilliant sense of place.” —Booklist, Thomas Gaughan (starred review)

“The Devil in Her Way has it all: rapid-fire pacing, dialogue that crackles, an artful depiction of the streets of New Orleans, and—in Maureen Coughlin—an utterly authentic, memorable protagonist. Bill Loehfelm is a terrific writer.” —Alafair Burke, author of Never Tell

“Bill Loehfelm shows us a deep, gritty New Orleans, far from the tourists. Seen through the eyes of a rookie cop, The Devil in Her Way is a story told in arrestingly beautiful prose, full of murder, mayhem, and sno-balls. I love this book and can’t wait for the next.” —Sara Gran, author of Come Closer

Bill Loehfelm is the author of The Devil She Knows, Bloodroot, and Fresh Kills. He lives in New Orleans with his wife, the writer AC Lambeth. He plays drums in the Ibervillains, a rock and soul cover band.

Young Adult novelist Claudia Gray joins us with her brand new story, SPELLCASTER. Descended from witches, high school senior Nadia can tell as soon as her family moves to Captive’s Sound that the town is under a dark and powerful spell. Then she meets Mateo, the teenage local whose cursed dreams predict the future, and they must work together to prevent an impending disaster that threatens the entire town.

Claudia Gray is the pseudonym of New Orleans-based writer Amy Vincent, the author of the New York Times bestselling Evernight series. Her grandparents' copy of Mysteries of the Unexplained is probably the genesis of her fascination with most things mysterious and/or inexplicable.

 

Please join us for a presentation and siging with Claire Manes featuring OUT OF THE SHADOW OF LEPROSY: The Carville Letters and Stories of the Landry Family.

In 1924 when thirty-two-year-old Edmond Landry kissed his family good-bye and left for the leprosarium in Carville, Louisiana, leprosy, now referred to as Hansen's Disease, stigmatized and disfigured but did not kill. Those with leprosy were incarcerated in the federal hospital and isolated from family and community. Phones were unavailable, transportation was precarious, and fear was rampant. Edmond entered the hospital (as did his four other siblings), but he did not surrender to his fate. He fought with his pen and his limited energy to stay connected to his family and to improve living conditions for himself and other patients.

Claire Manes, Edmond's granddaughter, lived much of her life gripped by the silence surrounding her grandfather. When his letters were discovered, she became inspired to tell his story through her scholarship and his writing. Out of the Shadow of Leprosy: The Carville Letters and Stories of the Landry Family presents her grandfather's letters and her own studies of narrative and Carville during much of the twentieth century. The book becomes a testament to Edmond's determination to maintain autonomy and dignity. Letters and stories of the other four siblings further enhance the picture of life in Carville from 1919 to 1977.

Claire Manes, Lafayette, Louisiana, is retired from Remington College, where she taught English and speech for fourteen years. Her work has appeared in Louisiana History, Journal of American Folklore, and Louisiana Folklore Miscellany.