Casting Bones

This clunky series opener from Bruns (Reel Stuff and six other Stuff mysteries) introduces New Orleans homicide detective Quinton Archer. When David Lerner, a controversial juvenile court judge, is kidnapped and killed, his murder is priority one for Archer and his partner, Adam Strand. Strand is desperate to pin it on a young petty thief, and he’ll do almost anything to get his conviction. Archer is not so sure. Soon other judges begin to die, and Solange Cordray, a beautiful voodoo practitioner, insists that she can help Archer with the case, but she’s got secrets of her own. All signs point to an exclusive club, Krewe Charbonerrie. When more judges are killed, Archer rushes to catch a killer who seems unstoppable and has links to the highest echelons of power. Post-Katrina New Orleans provides a fascinating locale, but hints about former Detroit cop Archer’s painful past (including his wife’s murder), plus a bit of the supernatural, can’t save this by-the-numbers affair. Agent: Jill Marr, Sandra Dijkstra Literary Agency. (Oct.)