Pre-Revolutionary War plot with Edgar Allen Poe as a main character (before his horror thrillers and rabies bite). Slavery (well described). Some Profanity. Narrator did accents well and clearly - her usual performance. ( )

In this book, Benjamin is in Washington DC. Slaves are bought and sold, and free people kidnapped into slavery, in the shadow of the US capitol. (This is, in fact what happened to Solomon Northup, who wrote of his experience in Twelve Years a Slave.) There are some really excellent cameo appearances by real historical figures, and one who plays a major role in the plot. ( )

I always eagerly anticipate the next Benjamin January novel. He is absolutely one of my favourite historical sleuths and Ms. Hambly does such a wonderful job with her period and setting in these books. In this book Ben January goes to Washington DC with a well-to-do New Orleans white couple. He is accompanied by his younger sister Dominique and her entourage. They are on the trail of an elderly Englishman who has been missing since the previous fall. Ben finds a strangely dark and dirty Washington even though it is the seat of government for the United States. And even though slavery is not legal in the north, he finds that slavery and all its moral indignities are still very much apparent. He finds himself in a world of slave dealers, grave robbers, international spies and morally bereft people. Danger is around every corner. But January being January, he manages to continue his investigation well below the radar of the various evil people that he comes across. There are lots of tense moments, but there are lots of heart-warming moments too as January is so very human. We are even introduced to a young Edgar Allan Poe in this book. Ms. Hambly brings him to life so convincingly. Her writing is so vivid and her period detail so realistic in every book in this series. And she does this while maintaining a tight plot and complex mysteries. ( )

This is the latest volume in Hambly's Free Man of Color mystery series. It is 1838 and the country is in the midst of a Depression & Benjamin January is worried about money since he has angered one of the richest men in New Orleans & seen all his piano playing jobs during Mardi Gras season disappear as a result. To help save his financial situation he isa offered a job helping his sister's "protector" finds a missing Englishman in Washington, DC.

As usual, Hambly has impeccably researched both her time period and location, and the reader palpably feels the danger that Ben encounters in the nation's capital as he tries to avoid those who would kidnap free black people claiming that they are slave runaways and sell them to plantations back in the South. We also get to read about "town ball" (AKA baseball) which was just in the process of becoming the national pastime and plays a pivotal role in the story.

The books in this series rarely disappoint and this one is no exception. I left this volume anxious for the next one to come. ( )

My thoughts:
• What I enjoyed most about this book and kept me interested was the description of what life was like for an enslaved and freed black person in 1836 Washington D.C. and pervasive slave trading and slave stealer occurred that the white residents did not even wince or seem to be bothered by the cruelty that happened on their doorsteps.
• I have read most of the books in the series and have always enjoyed how the author seamlessly intertwines the historical landscape with a mystery to be solved but this time the mystery did not seem to hold my attention. ( )