A Streetcar Named Murder

Herren, who writes the Chanse MacLeod and Scotty Bradley mysteries under the name Greg Herren, begins a new series set in New Orleans. Widowed Valerie Cooper lives in a large old house she and her late husband meticulously renovated early in their marriage. Her son is heading off to college and she feels overwhelmed with the house but cannot bear to part with it. A local realtor named Collette has been hounding her to sell but Valerie stands her ground. Then, out of the blue, she is named beneficiary to her husband’s estranged great uncle’s estate, including a majority partnership in a local antique business. Things get complicated when she finds Collette’s body at a costume ball with an antique dagger protruding from her chest—a dagger Valerie last saw at the antique shop. Now she’s a person of interest in the murder, so she decides to investigate the death herself. She discovers a Pandora’s box of secrets, lies, and relationships that eventually lead her to the truth.