The Devil’s Muse

Loehfelm’s low-key fifth novel featuring New Orleans beat cop Maureen Coughlin (after 2016’s Let the Devil Out) finds the native New Yorker and rookie patrol officer working her first Mardi Gras. She has just pulled an emaciated man wearing nothing but hot pink zebra-print tights off the hood of an SUV. He’s obviously under the influence of a powerful hallucinogen, but when gunshots ring out nearby, Coughlin pushes through the crowds to find multiple people injured. Shortly thereafter, she’s notified that the junkie in the tights has died. In the chaotic hours that follow, Coughlin maneuvers through drunken revelers, an annoying street-level journalist with her own camera crew, and warring gang members to connect the mysteries of the shooting and the overdose. Fans of police procedurals will enjoy the grittiness of the narrative, but the relatively easy crime solving and the lack of any substantial character progression make this outing a bit formulaic. Agent: Barney Karpfinger, Karpfinger Agency. (July)