Mean Woman Blues (37 page)

“Like Jane Storey.” Jimmy Dee said, naming a reporter friend of Skip’s. “Should we go call her?”

Skip tried to look innocent. “Adam and I sort of talked to her this afternoon. Adam felt pretty bad about what happened to me. And I felt bad about Rooster Blanchard. Jane’s even doing a special little feature on him.”

“Who the hell is Rooster Blanchard?”

“Guy who saved my life when this whole thing started. Remember that? We gave him a real bad day back then, poor bastard. But now he’s probably going to get some sort of commendation. Whatever that’s worth.”

“Ah. And you’re vindicated. Things are shaping up.”

“I’ll drink to that.” Skip smiled and raised her glass.

Things were good tonight. At the moment, she could hardly remember Dallas.

THE END

To the best and truest of friends, Mary Ann and Larry Walker

Many thanks to the regulars: retired NOPD Captain Linda Buczek, Kathy Perry, Greg Herren, Betsy Petersen, Dr. Ken White, Charlotte Sheedy, Vicky Bijur, Win Blevins, and, of course, my incomparable husband, Lee Pryor. Can’t do a book without ’em.

Also, thanks to Dr. Mark Cousins, Kit Wohl, retired District Fire Chief Dave Tibbetts, Kathy Fontenot at the Louisiana State Penitentiary, Kathy White, Kiley McGuire (my Dallas expert), Lynn Kuriger Stanton (on Texas divorce law), and Ace Atkins (for title consultation). Any mistakes are my own and not theirs, bless their hearts— they did their best to make it simple.

The ugly affair of the bank is based on a real incident. A thousand thanks (and all my sympathy) to the person who shared details of the ordeal.

We’ll give you your money back if you find as many as five errors. (That’s five
verified
errors— punctuation or spelling that leaves no room for judgment calls or alternatives.)

If you find more than five, we’ll give you a dollar for every one you catch up to twenty.

More than that and we reproof and remake the book.

Email
[email protected]
and it shall be done!

MEAN WOMAN BLUES is the ninth and last book in the Skip Langdon series.  If you liked Skip, why not try the spinoff Talba Wallis series? Find the first, LOUISIANA HOTSHOT, at
www.booksbnimble.com
 or 
click here for more fabulous books by Julie Smith
. (If your reader does not have a built-in browser, you can simply type:  
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“Talba Wallis has to be one of the most distinctive female detectives in the business. Her personality and her poetry are riveting reasons to read this book.”

—
The Times-Picayune, New Orleans

“Smith has launched Talba Wallis on a welcome series of her own. Wallis is fine fun to get to know… a consistently interesting and likable woman of depth and complexity.”

—
The Washington Post

NEW ORLEANS MOURNING

AXEMAN’S JAZZ

JAZZ FUNERAL

DEATH BEFORE FACEBOOK (formerly NEW ORLEANS BEAT)

HOUSE OF BLUES

THE KINDNESS OF STRANGERS

CRESCENT CITY CONNECTION (formerly CRESCENT CITY KILL)

82 DESIRE

MEAN WOMAN BLUES

The Rebecca Schwartz Series

DEATH TURNS A TRICK

THE SOURDOUGH WARS

TOURIST TRAP

DEAD IN THE WATER

OTHER PEOPLE’S SKELETONS

The Paul Mcdonald Series

TRUE-LIFE ADVENTURE

HUCKLEBERRY FIEND

The Talba Wallis Series

LOUISIANA HOTSHOT

LOUISIANA BIGSHOT

LOUISIANA LAMENT

P.I. ON A HOT TIN ROOF

As Well As:

WRITING YOUR WAY: THE GREAT AMERICAN NOVEL TRACK

NEW ORLEANS NOIR (ed.)

We hope you enjoyed
Mean Woman Blues
and wonder if you'd consider reviewing it on Goodreads, Amazon (
http://amzn.to/104wF7k
) or wherever you purchased this book?  The author would be most grateful.  And if you'd like to see other forthcoming mysteries, let us keep you up-to-date.  Sign up for our mailing list at 
www.booksbnimble.com
.  

JULIE SMITH is a New Orleans writer and former reporter for the San Francisco
Chronicle
and the New Orleans
Times-Picayune
.
New Orleans Mourning
, her first novel featuring Detective Skip Langdon, won the Edgar Allan Poe Award for Best Novel, and she has since published eight more highly acclaimed books in the series, plus spun off a second New Orleans series featuring PI and poet Talba Wallis.

She is also the author of the Rebecca Schwartz series and the Paul McDonald series, plus the YA novels CURSEBUSTERS! and EXPOSED. In addition to her novels, she’s written numerous essays and short stories and is the editor of NEW ORLEANS NOIR.