The Nubian's Curse

by Barbara Hambly

Overview

A cursed statue . . . A haunted house . . . A seemingly supernatural death . . . The unexpected arrival of a friend from his past plunges musician, sleuth and free man of color Benjamin January into an old, unsolved case in this historical mystery set in New Orleans

December 1840. Surgeon turned piano-player Benjamin January is looking forward to a peaceful holiday with his family. But the arrival of an old friend brings unexpected news - and unexpected danger.

Persephone Jondrette has found Arithmus: a Sudanese man with extraordinary mental abilities who January last saw in France, nearly fifteen years ago, during a ghost-hunting expedition to a haunted chateau. January and his friends survived the experience . . . but Arithmus' benefactor, the British explorer Deverel Wishart, did not. He was discovered dead one morning, his face twisted in horror, and shortly afterwards Arithmus vanished, never to be seen again.

Did Deverel succumb to the chateau's ghosts - or did Arithmus murder him and run away? January is determined to uncover the truth about the tragic incident from his past, and clear his old friend's name - but even he isn't prepared for what happens next . . .

The Nubian's Curse by NYT-bestselling author Barbara Hambly is the latest instalment of the critically acclaimed historical mystery series featuring talented amateur sleuth and free man of color, Benjamin January.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781448315017
Publisher:	Severn House
Publication date:	11/26/2024
Series:	A Benjamin January Historical Mystery , #20
Edition description:	Main - Large Print
Pages:	416
Product dimensions:	5.79(w) x 8.74(h) x 0.00(d)

About the Author

Barbara Hambly, though a native of Southern California, lived in New Orleans for many years while married to the late science fiction writer George Alec Effinger. Hambly holds a degree in medieval history from the University of California and has written novels in numerous genres.

Editorial Reviews

★ 11/27/2023

Hambly’s outstanding 20th whodunit featuring formerly enslaved doctor Benjamin January (after Death and Hard Cider) combines an eerie murder mystery with a vivid depiction of the antebellum South. In 1840, Benjamin is celebrating Christmas in Louisiana, where he’s managed to build a life with a few patients, a loving family, and occasional opportunities to play piano professionally. When Benjamin is reunited with Arithmus Wishart, whom he hasn’t seen in nearly 16 years, a mystery from his past comes roaring back. In 1825 France, Benjamin met Deverel Wishart, who claimed that he found Arithmus in a Sudanese desert, and that, though the man spoke “no known human language,” he possessed remarkable mathematical gifts. Not long after that, Deverel was found dead during a ghost hunt in a supposedly haunted chateau, and Arithmus, who disappeared soon afterwards, became a suspect. His reappearance leads Benjamin to reinvestigate Deverel’s death, and as he digs deeper into Arithmus’s past, he discovers surprising details about his own. Hambly isn’t content to rest on her laurels—she packs this installment with dueling timelines, fastidious period detail, and a consistently surprising investigation. This long-running series still shows plenty of life. Agent: Frances Collin, Frances Collin Literary. (Jan.)

Publishers Weekly

The historical backdrop is vivid, and the writing is exquisite. One of the best in a not-to-be-missed series

Booklist Starred Review of Death and Hard Cider

Hambly is a terrific storyteller; she builds a world that feels very real with fully realized characters. In the Benjamin January novels, we feel like we've been transported to a different time and place. Wonderful

Booklist

[Benjamin January is] a winning character, nimbly moving through parts of history we should all know better

New York Times

Hambly lays bare the dark underbelly of American society in the mid-nineteenth century. A fine entry in an impressive series

Booklist on House of the Patriarch

A stark and occasionally brutal story, and Hambly tells it superbly, in prose that is vivid and empathetic. For fans of this fine series, this is a must-read

Booklist Starred Review of Lady of Perdition

2023-10-21
A series of mysteries spanning two continents and many years comes to a head in Louisiana.

Benjamin January may be a Paris-trained doctor and an excellent musician, but in 1840 New Orleans, he’s a Black man who has to remember his place. The evening Ben plays at a Christmas ball, he encounters a haunting puzzle from his past. The star of the ball, the Vicomtesse de St.-Forgeux, turns out to be Persephone Jondrette, whom Ben knew in Paris as a dancer. She’s now serving as a companion to wealthy Miss Daisy Emmett, whose slave-trader father died and left her guardianship to his business partner, Creon Grice. When Persephone comes to Ben’s home the next day to ask for help looking into the well-being of two old friends, he can’t refuse, even though it brings back unpleasant memories of a weird, unsolved murder in Paris more than a decade earlier. The friends are African mathematical genius Arithmus Sudirja and Belle Wishart, a British woman; Arithmus was a companion to Belle’s scientifically inclined uncle, Deverel Wishart. After her uncle’s death, Grice married Belle for her money; he spirited Belle and Arithmus to Louisiana because the French police suspected them of killing Deverel. Now, Persephone reveals, it seems that Arithmus is enslaved on Grice’s Natchez plantation. Traveling to Natchez disguised as the valet of a white musician who’s helped him before, Ben finds that Grice has thrown Belle out of the house, demanding a divorce and obviously planning on marrying Miss Emmett to increase his fortune. Miss Emmett, however, has set her sights higher, on Prince Serafin Corvinus. When Grice vanishes, Ben, certain that he’s dead, finds himself again forced to rescue himself and his friends from a murder charge.

A hauntingly atmospheric mystery with a complex and exciting storyline.

Kirkus Reviews