No Virtue: A Masey Baldridge/Luke Williamson Mystery

Nimbly weaving history and mystery, Civil War expert Brewer brings back Reconstruction-era riverboat captain Luke Williamson and Confederate veteran and insurance agent Masey Baldridge, introduced in No Bottom, in their second excellent historical drama. A young woman, a regular on Williamson's Mississippi steamboat who frequently enjoyed the company of wealthy male passengers, is found dead in the river in Memphis, her body tangled in the paddlewheel. Jacob Lusk, the first mate, who is black, is arrested for her murder. Williamson refuses to believe Lusk committed the crime and hires Baldridge to investigate. At the same time, Salina Tyner, a friend of the victim and also a prostitute, who is skeptical of the hard-drinking Baldridge's ability to find the murderer, also works on the case. Baldridge follows a trail that leads to a suspected cache of gold coins from the Confederacy's treasury; the coins' existence and their disappearance is confirmed by Jefferson Davis in a well-placed cameo appearance. Brewer's fully dimensioned characters give life to his historical plotting, making for an eminently satisfying mystery. (July)