Author Description

When a retired Louisiana State Policeman, despondent over the loss of his wife, is found dead in his home, most everybody assumes he committed suicide. But in the steamy bayous of south Louisiana, things aren't always what they seem. Legendary Sheriff Cat Doucet thinks it's murder and calls on a streetwise State Police Detective from New Orleans, Tony Angelo, to take charge of the investigation.At first reluctant to work with a backwoods Cajun Sheriff on what seems to be an open-and-shut suicide, Angelo quickly realizes what Cat Doucet knew all along - there's more to the case than meets the eye. Angelo quickly learns that the dead policeman was the key to long-buried secrets about Louisiana's most infamous crime - the assassination of Governor Huey P. Long - and that the peaceful, moss-draped bayous can be just as deadly as the mean streets of New Orleans. With the help of an eager sheriff's deputy, Danny DesOrmeaux, as his guide through the bayous of Cajun country, Angelo slowly unravels a case of intrigue and political conspiracy. The investigation leads to a murderous convict named "Hog" Batiste, and his relationship to "Ten-Mile" Thibodeaux, the corrupt Sheriff of a neighboring parish. Thibodeaux, in turn, is discovered to be the leader of a powerful group of conspirators called "the Minutemen" - people powerful enough to assassinate a popular governor; people who wouldn't hesitate to kill a meddlesome detective.With everything to lose, Thibodeaux and the Minutemen mark Angelo and DesOrmeaux for death to protect their secrets. When his young deputy partner is ambushed and left barely clinging to life, Tony Angelo must go it alone. In the end, the investigation literally becomes a life-or-death struggle pitting the cunning, powerful "Ten-Mile" Thibodeaux against the idealistic Tony Angelo. Angelo knows that the powerful Minutemen will do everything possible to protect themselves, and that even if he prevails it could cost him his career, his family, or his life.