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New Orleans private investigator Scotty Bradley's Russian-born drug dealer is killed at the beginning of Mardi Gras, and Scotty is the last person to have seen him before the killer's arrival. The ensuing investigation leads Scotty -- and the reader -- through a bewildering hall of mirrors in which people keep changing identities, and where the motive seems increasingly less clear as facts emerge and when a second murder occurs. Just who was the drug dealer anyway, and what exactly was his story? Was he the victim of a disgruntled client? Did the porn site that he ran on the web have any connection to his death? Could he have been the target of a Russian hit-team because of mob connections in his past? And why are there so many weird coincidences linking him to Scotty's own family? Finally, who is the mysterious figure who is watching Scotty and his lovers' apartment? Scotty is a psychic sleuth, but his Goddess and his tarot are notoriously enigmatic in answering his questions. This novel is the third in the series. It follows BOURBON STREET BLUES (2003) and JACKSON SQUARE JAZZ (2004). The three cover a period of six months, each mystery set during a different holiday of importance to gay New Orleanians: Southern Decadence (during the American Labor Day weekend), Halloween, and now Mardi Gras. In each Scotty as narrator lovingly recounts in detail the importance of the event from an insider's perspective. Like all good mysteries in a series, this one is quite satisfactory as a standalone. But the reader who comes to it knowing the first two gains many additional pleasures -- as well as pain probably not felt by a newcomer to the series. Recurring characters populate the three works. Above all, these few months during Scotty's 29th year mark a huge transition in his life when he changes professions and becomes part of an unconventional menage a trois. Three actually becomes an all-important figure in the tissue of this novel. Triplets play a central role. The case takes three days to solve. Because it is such a rich novel, my mind keeps toying with possible symbolic readings ranging from the idea that various dialectics may be at work to the notion that different ontological possibilities are playing themselves out. The potential for a Freudian reading especially intrigues me. Does each set of three men represent the ego, superego, and id? And if so, is the author then making a statement about the problems both id and superego pose? By now it should be clear: the novel is more than just a whodunit. The family tragedy that solves the mystery left me stunned, and I suspect the author should prepare himself for irate fans who feel they have been betrayed. A number of loose ends remain. Perhaps Herren's not tidying up every detail provides a sense of realism. But I cannot help wondering if the novel actually changed course as a result of the string of crises its author suffered during the writing: his partner became the victim of a hate crime, he himself was the target of a right-wing Christian group, and then came Katrina. What begins as a heady celebration of hedonism (perfectly captured by the insolent pose on the cover) ends by becoming a serious examination of the nature of love and family with the ultimate question being, Who can you trust? The novel also becomes an affirmation of Scotty's faith: "Life never hands you anything you can't handle." I finished reading it with a keen sense of loss: sadness for Scotty, sadness for a city and a culture that can never be the same again. A devastating hurricane has converted a paean to Mardi Gras into a historical novel about the New Orleans that once was. Scotty's Goddess also says, "Pray for a brave heart." I do recommend MARDI GRAS MAMBO. When a work provokes as many conflicting emotions as this one, I know I have encountered something exceptional. With his courage to expand the boundaries of the traditional mystery, Greg Herren has become a voice to heed.
Reviewed by Drewey Wayne Gunn, March 2006
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Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)
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