Book Review: “The Quarter Storm” by Veronica Henry

“The Quarter Storm” by Veronica Henry (2022)

Genre: Fantasy, Mystery, Thriller, Fiction

Page Length: 287 pages (electronic review edition)

Synopsis:

A practitioner of Vodou must test the boundaries of her powers to solve a ritual murder in New Orleans and protect everything she holds sacred.

Haitian-American Vodou priestess Mambo Reina Dumond runs a healing practice from her New Orleans home. Gifted with water magic since she was a child, Reina is devoted to the benevolent traditions of her ancestors.

After a ritual slaying in the French Quarter, police arrest a fellow vodouisant. Detective Roman Frost, Reina’s ex-boyfriend—a fierce nonbeliever—is eager to tie the crime, and half a dozen others, to the Vodou practitioners of New Orleans. Reina resolves to find the real killer and defend the Vodou practice and customs, but the motives behind the murder are deeper and darker than she imagines.

As Reina delves into the city’s shadows, she untangles more than just the truth behind a devious crime. It’s a conspiracy. As a killer wields dangerous magic to thwart Reina’s investigation, she must tap into the strength of her own power and faith to solve a mystery that threatens to destroy her entire way of life.

Review:

Set deep within New Orleans, The Quarter Storm follows Reina a Voudou priestess who soon after helping a client a murder case arises and the community is on high alert as one of their own is behind bars. Reina is determined to find out who or what is behind the crime before it’s too late.

The further we get into this case the further readers get connected to Reina. Reina is a caring person who carries a hard exterior. Haunted by the past with her mother, her past relationship with Roman (the detective), she struggles to move forward in her life. Among her crime-solving efforts, Henry’s detailed writing gives us a glimpse of New Orleans culture and a deeper insight into the Voudou community. Readers feel as we are walking in Reina’s shoes as we travel to each part of the city hopefully getting one step closer to finding out what happened. But as with most mysteries, the web of lies and secrets becomes more entangled the deeper Reina tries to save one of her own.

“That Salimah Grenade was a human being meant that we should all care if she’d been wrongly accused. That’s what kept the rest of us human. And when what you believed in most, your religion, was called into question, that just added fuel to the fire. Sometimes caring put you in harm’s way. It could mean your life would be upended like ours had. It could cost you your family, your respect, even…”

Though The Quarter Storm has a steady pace throughout its narrative I felt that it moved quite slowly for a mystery/thriller novel. I think because the descriptive writing style at times can be a bit wordy and this aspect of the novel sometimes took me out of the story. I found that there were spots where it gets very interesting and then the pace of the plot would slow once again. I do wish readers got to see a little more of New Orleans rather than the few regular places that Reina frequented during her investigation but I did enjoy the setting and location for the novel.

All in all, this novel was an exciting reading experience. It was definitely different from any previous mystery novel I’ve read before and I like the New Orleans setting and heavy supernatural twist while trying to untangle a web of lies surrounding a murder.

Final Verdict: