๕๕๕
My cell phone beeps as I’m walking back to the brownstone after taking Dixie for her nightly stroll. It’s Melissa. “Cate! How are you?” Her voice is melodic and sweet. “How’s Dixie?”
“Hi Melissa! Everything’s good, we’re both well. How’s New Orleans?”
“That’s what I’m calling you about. How would you and Will like to come visit me here?”
“Well—l—l—l…I’d love to do that,” I hesitate, “New Orleans would be nice but, seriously, I can’t afford to take a vacation now, Melissa. Neither can Will. We’re both kind of swamped and money is a bit tight, at least for me, at the moment. Thanks but…”
“I’ve already purchased the tickets,” she says brightly. “First-class for you, Will, and Dixie.”
“Oh, we can’t let you do...”
Melissa stops me and I hear a change in her voice. She sounds scared.”Please Cate, please say yes. I, well, I really need your help.”
“My help? I don’t understand. Is something wrong?” Her elegant voice breaks again. “What is it, Melissa?” I’m on alert and Dixie turns toward me as I stop walking.
“My Tante Anjali has been arrested for murder. You have to come to New Orleans to help her!”
***
GRAVE MISGIVINGS 151
Kristen Houghton
UNREPENTENT:
PRAY FOR US SINNERS
A Cate Harlow Private Investigation
© copyright 2015 Kristen Houghton all rights reserved
Cate Harlow’s best friend, the lovely “lady of the evening” Melissa Abrincourt, asks Cate and
Cate’s ex-husband, NYPD Detective Will Benigni, to come to New Orleans. Her beloved Tante
Anjali, the woman who raised Melissa, has been arrested for murder and she needs their help.
What Melissa doesn’t tell her is that Tante Angali is a sorcière, a witch, and that she wants Cate to
conduct a private investigation into the murder of a voodoo priestess who has been accused of
modern day slavery and sex trafficking.
As a sorcière, a “gifted person of magic,” and powerful voodooienne rival of the
murdered woman, Tante Anjali is the prime suspect. She was found in the murdered woman’s
garden with the murder weapon, a bloody knife, in her hand. Though she claims to be innocent
of the murder, Tante Angali will not disclose why she was there or who else may be involved.
Will is along not only for his expertise as a NYPD detective but for his newly acquired law degree. Although he’s reluctant to do so because of lack of experience, Melissa wants him to help defend her aunt in court, something he strongly feels he’s not prepared to do. As he tells Cate, “I’m not a member of the Louisiana Bar. I don’t want this to turn into a New Orleans version of My Cousin Vinny.”
The case becomes even stranger for Cate as her own private investigation into the murder takes her into the mystical and frightening heart of New Orleans voodoo magic and a possible connection to witchcraft in her own family.
Read the newest Cate Harlow Private Investigation available June of 2016.
“This third book in the Cate Harlow series is a perfect blend of mystery, magic, and astute storytelling. And the hot sex scenes between Will and Cate are a definite plus. Stunning! New Orleans, a murder mystery, and Cate Harlow go well together. UNREPENTENT: Pray for Us Sinners is another jewel in the Cate Harlow Private Investigation series for author Kristen Houghton.” Greg Archer, The Huffington Post Book Review
AUTHOR’S NOTE
Though the character of assassin Marc Croft is a fictional one, it is a fact that these professional ghosts exist. Many work in the field of espionage, some are soldiers-of-fortune, others work for organized crime, but all sell their skills for profit by eliminating people for a hefty price.
The Tor and the Dark Web are anonymity networks designed to keep identites and locations completely secure.
Hart Island does exist and is situated in New York City at the western end of Long Island Sound. It houses the largest Potter’s field in the United States, with over one million unclaimed bodies and indigent dead buried there. It is a restricted area under the jurisdiction of the New York City Department of Correction and is closed to free public access. The City of New York currently offers no provisions for individuals wanting to visit Hart Island without contacting the prison system.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
A special thank you to authors Carole Nelson Douglas and Jeani Rector for their positive support and their excellent advice, and to Courtney Davison for all her help and incredibly skillful editing.
Thank you to all readers who have become faithful fans of Cate Harlow and company. Rest assured that they will all be back in book three of A Cate Harlow Private Investigation.
Grave Misgivings Page 26