Fever Dream by Preston & Child

Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child write novels on their own, but their thrillers featuring Aloysius Pendergast are their best work. Fever Dream (2010) is their best yet. Pendergast's brooding character has been mourning the accidental death of his wife Helen for 12 years. While rummaging around his Louisiana mansion, he finds evidence that convinces him that her death was no accident. He begins an unaccustomedly emotional investigation in which he discovers that many things are not as he thought. In fact, he begins to wonder if he really knew his late wife at all!

While the book rambles all over the globe, most of the action takes place in Louisiana and Mississippi, making it fun for us locals. There are some problems with geography that you've got to ignore, and some typically clumsy phrasing, but once you start reading this, you won't put it down.

The audio book is well read by Rene Auberjonois, but he should have checked for the correct the pronunciation of the names and places in Louisiana and Mississippi, some of which he mangles.

And if this book leaves you wanting more Louisiana stories, the Lawrence County Library has just received a donation of the DVD The Big Easy with Dennis Quaid and Ellen Barkin. The city of New Orleans is as much a character in this movie as are the actors.