Part of Series
When Claire Hunt is sent to host her home shopping program on location in the Big Easy she and her husband, Gil, cannot resist having him come along. A book dealer back home in St. Louis, Gil is eager for the chance to poke around in the French Quarter's shops. The food, the history, the mystique—all of it delights the couple . . . until they're meeting with the Voodoo Queen, Auntie Laveau. The strange woman presents the duo with a collection of miniature Mardi Gras masks, hoping Claire will sell them on the air during her show. However, when the real Auntie Laveau is found murdered the police begin an official investigation. As the Hunts unwittingly become entangled with Louisiana's supernatural subculture Gil finds himself embroiled in the search for a missing girl who may or may not become the next victim. As he, himself, becomes endangered Claire and her son, Paul, frantically search the French Quarter for her husband before he can become a victim of the Voodoo Queen as well. But wait. Auntie Laveau is dead-or is she?
Authors
(from MacMillan Publishers) While separately Bob Randisi and Christine Matthews have also managed to forge a second career each as a writing duo. They have written short stories and edited anthologies together, as well as penning the first Gil & Claire novel Murder is the Deal of the Day. The Masks of Auntie Laveau is their second collaborative novel. (from Fantastic Fiction online) As a short story writer, Christine Matthews works have appeared in many collections including Deadly Allies II, Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine, Lethal Ladies, For Crime Out Loud I and II, and Till Death Do Us Part. Her novels include Murder is the Deal of the Day, The Masks of Auntie Laveau which the Los Angeles Times called a blueprint for how to write a thriller -, and Same Time, Next Murder. All three were co-authored with her husband, Robert J. Randisi. Recently she served as editor of and contributor to Deadly Housewives, published by Avon/Morrow in April 2006. Under her real name, Marthayn Pelegrimas, she has written over forty short stories in the dark fantasy, science fiction, and horror genres, appearing in such anthologies as Borderlands 3, Best of the Midwest, Hot Blood IX, and Hot Blood X. Her story, The Living Donor was nominated by the Horror Writers of America for Best Short Story of the Year.
Pseudonyms include W. B. Longley, Robert Lake, Spenser Fortune, Joshua Randall, Tom Cutter, J.R. Roberts, Joseph Meek, Cole Weston, Lew Baines, Paul Ledd and Jon Sharpe Robert J. Randisi is the creator and author of The Gunsmith, the popular Western series with more than 250 novels and more than 5 million books in print, which was written under the pen name J.R. Roberts. Under various pseudonyms, he has created and written the series Tracker, Angel Eyes, The Bounty Hunter, Mountain Jack Pike, and Ryder. Western novels that have appeared under his own name are The Ham Reporter, Targett, The Ghost with Blue Eyes, Legend, and Miracle of the Jackal. He has also edited the Western anthologies White Hats, Black Hats, and Boot Hill.
