Cajun Nights

When a series of inexplicable murder-suicides baffles the New Orleans police department, Kit Franklyn, a young psychologist specializing in suicide research, is assigned to the investigation. She uncovers a bizarre set of circumstances: each victim had type O blood, drove an obsolete car manufactured in New Orleans, and hummed a nursery rhyme before murdering someone else and then killing himself. Andy Broussard, the obese, jovial, and shrewd chief medical examiner, works closely with Kit. Their strictly scientific inquiries clash head on with folklore and black magic when an ancient Cajun friend of Broussard reveals the story of Albair Fauquel, accused of sorcery in 1738, who uttered the curse, ``Beware the songs you loved in youth,'' before he was quickly tried and hung. Kit's astute investigative sense leads her to a major industrial complex where the first murder-suicide occurred, and she discovers that the owner has ties to a fabric expert in the police department's forensic unit. What links together the ancient malediction, the police department, and the suicides? Unfortunately this bland first novel by a New Orleans pathologist reveals motive and murderer far too early, leaving the two engaging protagonists to struggle with a lengthy and contrived finale. (October)