21 Steps

by O'Neil De Noux

Overview

The hardest part of committing a murder is getting away with it, especially when the case is assigned to a detective who is a relentless pursuer, a half-Cajun, half-Sioux investigator at the top of his game. The body of an elderly woman is discovered stuffed into her closet in her uptown mansion. Initial investigating officers find no leads, no suspects. NOPD Homicide Detective John Raven Beau focuses all of his senses, takes the necessary steps to determine time of death, cause of death, manner of death and most importantly, who killed her.

The pursuit is methodical and calculated by a man who is a natural hunter, a man born and raised on a swamp, a man whose ancestors’ war cry echoes in his mind. Beau does not need to put on war paint to become a plain warrior. Woe-be-tide the killer. John Raven Beau is on the trial.

If you enjoyed this story and would like to read more adventures of Detective John Raven Beau, you’ll want to read the new novel JOHN RAVEN BEAU and the short story collection NEW ORLEANS NOCTURNAL.

Product Details

BN ID:	2940011378829
Publisher:	O'Neil De Noux
Publication date:	06/10/2011
Sold by:	Smashwords
Format:	eBook
Sales rank:	855,140
File size:	720 KB

About the Author

O’Neil De Noux writes in many genres, primarily realistic crime fiction, strong on setting, mostly New Orleans, featuring the accurate dialogue of the streets. He also writes scintillating erotica. His publishing credits include 20 novels, nine short story collections and over 300 short stories. From contemporary to historical, De Noux uses several recurring characters in his New Orleans stories and novels: NOPD Homicide Detective John Raven Beau (21st Century); NOPD Homicide Detective LaStanza (20th Century); Private-eye Lucien Caye (1940s) and NOPD Detective Jacques Dugas (1890s). A primary theme in De Noux’s fiction is the effect of violence on victims and their families as well as the sometimes debilitating effect of violence on law enforcement officers, private-eyes and their loved ones. As a former private-eye and currently a police investigator, De Noux knows his subject well. De Noux’s stories span from mystery to mainstream, literary, suspense, thriller, science-fiction, fantasy, horror, erotica, humor, westerns, children’s fiction as well as cross-genre stories – erotic-detective, science-fiction mysteries and the like. O’Neil De Noux’s “The Heart Has Reasons” (Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine, September 2006) won the Private Eye Writers of America’s prestigious SHAMUS AWARD for BEST SHORT STORY 2007. The SHAMUS is given annually to recognize outstanding achievement in private eye fiction. In 2009, the Short Mystery Fiction Society awarded the Derringer Award for Best Novelette to another Lucien Caye story, “Too Wise” by O’Neil De Noux (which appeared in Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine’s November 2008 Issue). The Derringer Award is given annually to recognize excellence in the mystery short form. In June 2012, De Noux’s novel JOHN RAVEN BEAU was named 2011 POLICE BOOK OF THE YEAR by Police-Writers.com, a group that boasts of 1153 state and local law enforcement officials from 485 state and local law enforcement agencies who have written 2504 police books. A hyper-realistic crime story, JOHN RAVEN BEAU provides an intimate look into the beleaguered NOPD Homicide Division, a story that begins in the French Quarter and ends in a swamp, all within the city limits of America’s eternal city, a city that cannot be destroyed – New Orleans. A second Beau novel was released in 2013 – CITY OF SECRETS. Books by O’Neil De Noux (all available as eBooks and trade paperbacks). Go to www.oneildenoux.net for links.