A good review!

 Here's the first review of Death and Hard Cider, the next Benjamin January mystery, from Kirkus Reviews!

Hambly continues her series of mysteries about Benjamin January, a free man of color in 1840s New Orleans.

Educated as a physician, Benjamin makes a living as a piano player and teacher, and he’s in constant danger of being taken by slave traders. The miasmic city is abuzz with the arrival of former Secretary of State Henry Clay, who’s campaigning for Whig candidate William Henry Harrison against the Democrat Martin Van Buren. January and a few fellow musicians are playing at big campaign events for both parties. Trouble arrives in the form of Marie-Joyeuse Maginot, a beautiful, heartless flirt who has already occasioned several duels. Unfortunately, Clay’s son James is in love with her. So is her cousin Damien Aubin, who already has a wife and mistress. Neither Henry Clay nor Damien’s older brother Melchior approves of a romantic connection. When Melchior is called out by the worst shot in the parish, January is asked to provide his medical services but is sidetracked when Damien’s mistress, Zandrine, drinks quinine to abort a baby. Zandrine's mother, an old friend of January’s, is accused of murder when Marie-Joyeuse is shot dead, and January soon becomes involved in ugly political fights and family discord while attempting to clear her name.

One of Hambly’s best mysteries combines historical detail, intense local color, and ugly truths about slavery and politics.

For some time now I've wanted to do a January story about the Presidential election of 1848 - the first Presidential election to take advantage of the advances in technology (cheaper printing, better distribution and travel due to increasing railroads) to begin the whole process of making the election a media circus rather than a discussion of actual principles. And, I've wanted to do a story involving Henry Clay, a politician whose record for the most part I respect - albeit that he was a slaveowner and behaved typically as one. 

As always in dealing with a historical cameo appearance, I had to tackle the issue of, where WAS Senator Clay, at what point, during the campaign? He'd been aced out of candidacy for President because his party - the Whigs - thought he'd expressed his own views too specifically, and had pissed off some of the voters... Can't have that! So he was reduced to stumping for William Henry Harrison, a retired General whose most recent political office was County Recorder in North Bend, Indiana. (Harrison HAD been governor of Indiana at one point). I was relieved and gratified to find that Clay had a lot of family connections in New Orleans, and as far as I could learn, could easily have been there in September of 1840.

And I'm sure someone's going to turn up a hotel-bill for Clay proving his presence in Nashville for the entire month of September. Please remember this is fiction. (There is actually a book, Abraham Lincoln Day By Day, which traces where Mr. L was for pretty much every day of his life after he got into serious politics - there are serious Lincoln Fans who study this. There is nothing like that - so far as I could learn - for Clay).

In other news, watch for Armies of Daylight being down-priced to $1.99, US and Canada, on the 14th (which is Monday). (AND DON'T FORGET TO CHANGE YOUR CLOCKS ON SUNDAY NIGHT!) Digital, through Open Road.

Meanwhile, I am still operating at slightly diminished capacity. For six weeks following my mom's death I handled things like funeral arrangements and the memorial service (on top of four other major issues AND getting a new computer) (and having family stay with me for the funeral) (and having the class that I didn't think I would be teaching actually reach minimum enrollment two days before classes were due to start)... I think I did an okay job of it (other than being tired all the time), but it's only in the last two weeks that it's caught up with me, so I'm not getting a great deal done. (Except for the final editorial corrections on The Iron Princess).

My apologies for not posting much. Things are settling down, finally. Thank you all for your patience.