Rating: 
Summary: 1830's New Orleans Voodoo mystery
Review: The third in the series following A Free Man of Color and Fever Season, Graveyard Dust continues the story of Benjamin January in 1834 New Orleans. January's sister, a voodoo priestess, is charged with murder in the death of a young man whose body has yet to be found. Purportedly, she provided the gris-gris used by a young wife to kill her husband. Olympe is jailed and seems unwilling to defend herself. Setting out to prove the innocence of both women, January is forewarned that his own life is in danger when he finds graveyard dust in his bed. January's investigation turns up family secrets, greed, and illicit sex. Hambly again invokes the colorful nineteenth-century New Orleans with all its humidity, mud, stench, disease, and vermin, as well as its polite society, racial divisiveness, judicial corruption, Catholicism, and voodoo. Not as engrossing as the first two in the series, Graveyard Dust, nonetheless will please Hambly's legions of fans.
Rating: 
Summary: Voodoo and murder in old New Orleans
Review: The third novel in Barbara Hambly's Benjamin January (Janvier)series, "Graveyard Dust" shows further development of her central character.A young "colored" sculptor, Isaak Jumon, has apparently died of poisoning, procured by his wife from January's voodoo sister, Olympe. Yet his body has not been found. Also, there is an issue with his father having left him an inheritance and his mother trying to claim him as a slave. Throw in an opium addict brother, a shadowy uncle and a demon of a grandmother and you have the makings of another southern gothic mystery set in old New Orleans. It's up to Benjamin January to find out what really happened to Jumon if he is to free his sister before she is hanged or taken with fever from the filthy jail, the notorious Cabildo. It's another steamy summer and Ben is still recovering from injuries he suffered in "Fever Season." Money is hard to come by, with the music season slow and Ben being unable to earn a living as a doctor. Yellow Fever, and perhaps even Cholera, are taking their toll on the population, and Ben must confront his deepest spiritual beliefs in a conflict of voodoo and Christianity. I liked the further development of January and found him to be an excellent observer of his surroundings. Although a man of deep moral conviction, he is full of conflict with his societal role, mourning for his dead wife, and challenged by the voodoo signs haunting his every turn. His main ally continues to be Oxford educated, opium-addicted, Irishman Hannibal, slowly descending with consumption. Rose Vitrac returns and their friendship continues to grow. The complex web of families continues to be fascinating. I would love a peek at Hambly's notebook detailing the genealogy of whites, blacks and colored, creoles and Americans, wealthy and poor, that she so aptly illustrates in her writing. Her writing is very descriptive and one really gets a full range of senses, from the smell of the gutters to the detail of a house in the swamp. At times, the detail can become overwhelming and drag parts of the story. Also, I still would like a "cast list" to keep all of these people straight, as there are so many names, both American and French, that I sometimes forget who is who. The sheer number of characters makes it difficult to keep them all straight. Still, I am enjoying watching the growth taking place with Ben January, and look forward to the next book, "Sold Down the River."
Rating: 
Summary: Awesome as Usual!
Review: This is an excellent book and a great addition to the Benjamin January series. It's probably the darkest of the three in the series that I've read so far. The atmosphere in this book is so thick you can almost feel it. We are introduced to the whole world of voodoo as it was practiced in New Orleans during this era before the war between the states. The locale is exotic, but very, very dark, and we see more twisted human frailties than we have in any of her previous books. In this book January's sister Olympe is charged with murder for aiding a "high-yellow" woman to kill her husband. Olympe was supposed to have sold her the poison used to do away with him. It looks like Olympe is going to hang even though there was no body to be found. Benjamin sets out to find out what actually happened on the night of St. John's Eve. As he investigates he brings real danger to himself and his friend Hannibal. He is thrown into the underworld that the practicers of voodoo magic live in, and he uncovers human depravity like nothing he has ever seen before. A real smasher!
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