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Now I’m really not a typical reader of ghost stories, and the paranormal and I aren’t regular bedfellows, in fact we’re rarely on the same page, but WICKED BLEU still drew me in, pushed me out of my cosy, comfort zone and totally captivated me. Granted it was the opening line of the description that got my attention. As an avid mystery fan, who was I to turn down a 103-year-old murder mystery? It’s the ultimate cold case�� but with a difference, and that difference is the magical quality of the author’s writing, teamed with the history and mystique of New Orleans during Mardi Gras, and topped off with a fascinating, bone-chilling, heart-wrenching and tragic plot.

With a dual timeline of the present day and a little over a century ago, the key players in this story are Simone Doucet (a successful writer) and two females named Bleu �� mother and daughter �� who lived in New Orleans in the notorious red light district. And their connection to Simone is one of blood�� and an unsolved mystery that prevents them �� and others �� from fully leaving this world.

You see, Simone Doucet has second sight �� more fully explained in the first book in the series �� and, initially, Orphan Bleu makes the connection in order to get justice for her mother’s death �� a murder by any other name. In New Orleans with her buddies to take advantage of a thank-you gift from a previous client, Simone and her three friends are looking forward to enjoying Mardi Gras. That is until Bleu (the mother) decides to tell Simone her story by adopting Simone’s friend’s body. The others realise Stacy is acting oddly, but eventually Simone “sees�� what’s going on and is transported back in time to witness life back then. There, amidst the sights, smells and sounds of the dangerous streets of the red light district, she comes to understand Bleu’s character, sees her falling in love and being loved back by her artist lover whose paintings of her went on to earn him great acclaim. Simone sees the evil misogyny of the clients of the brothel who care only for themselves, who cannot bear to be mocked by a woman, who think nothing of taking a life to save themselves. It’s a brutal existence, made all the more raw by the viewpoint of Bleu’s daughter, the Orphan Bleu who feels abandoned and unloved by her mother, yet who cannot “rest�� until her mother gets justice.

While trying to enjoy the Mardi Gras with her friends, Simone cannot relax, she feels obliged to know the full story but can she put right a century-old wrong and let the spirits finally rest? Billups writes beautifully, not just with words but with the images she creates, the characters she brings to life and the injustices she conveys of those times. I was drawn in completely by the setting (the cathedral, the Creole dialect, the jazz music �� bliss!) and the story, but more to the point to understanding the past and how we should (but rarely do) learn from it.

A suspenseful tale, crafted with care, told with heart and which left me wanting more.