Skip Langdon Series by Julie Smith

It's Mardi Gras in New Orleans, and civic leader and socialite Chauncy St. Amant has been crowned Rex, King of Carnival. But his day of glory comes to an abrupt and bloody end when a parade-goer dressed as Dolly Parton guns him down. Is the killer his aimless, promiscuous daughter Marcelle? Homosexual, mistreated son Henry? Helpless, alcoholic wife Bitty? Or some unknown player? Turns out the king had enemies.. moreIt's Mardi Gras in New Orleans, and civic leader and socialite Chauncy St. Amant has been crowned Rex, King of Carnival. But his day of glory comes to an abrupt and bloody end when a parade-goer dressed as Dolly Parton guns him down. Is the killer his aimless, promiscuous daughter Marcelle? Homosexual, mistreated son Henry? Helpless, alcoholic wife Bitty? Or some unknown player? Turns out the king had enemies...Enter resourceful heroine Skip Langdon, a rookie police officer and former debutante turned cynic of the Uptown crowd. Scouring the streets for clues, interviewing revelers and street people with names like Jo Jo, Hinky, and Cookie, and using her white glove contacts, the post-deb rebel cop encounters a tangled web of brooding clues and ancient secrets that could mean danger for her—and doom for the St. Amants. less

"Julie Smith not only firmly establishes her claim to the New Orleans crime scene, but she explores an intriguing new franchise for the serial killer."Sue GraftonFor detective Skip Langdon, the murder of a multiple self-help group member is no fun. Even if the guilty character is claiming the mantle last held by the Axeman, a notorious New Orleans serial killer of seventy years ago... more"Julie Smith not only firmly establishes her claim to the New Orleans crime scene, but she explores an intriguing new franchise for the serial killer."Sue GraftonFor detective Skip Langdon, the murder of a multiple self-help group member is no fun. Even if the guilty character is claiming the mantle last held by the Axeman, a notorious New Orleans serial killer of seventy years ago. Yet as Skip threads her fascinated way from one self-help group to another, she finds she has more in common with the twelve-steppers than just the murder. And she knows what they do not: that among their anonymous numbers is a deadly murderous, and dangerously attractive -- psychopath....From the Paperback edition. less

THREE ACES AND A QUEEN is a mini-anthology containing one each from THREE top-rated female sleuth series by Edgar Award-winning author Julie Smith PLUS a short story that could only be set in New Orleans. “Julie Smith writes like jazz should sound—cool, complex, and penetrating right to the heart.” --Val McDermid, best-selling author of the Tony Hill series “ Gritty, witty, & mesmerizing ! Langdon is a splendid female heroine... moreTHREE ACES AND A QUEEN is a mini-anthology containing one each from THREE top-rated female sleuth series by Edgar Award-winning author Julie Smith PLUS a short story that could only be set in New Orleans. “Julie Smith writes like jazz should sound—cool, complex, and penetrating right to the heart.” --Val McDermid, best-selling author of the Tony Hill series “ Gritty, witty, & mesmerizing ! Langdon is a splendid female heroine.” – People Magazine Editor's This is not a collection of firsts in series. But not to worry--none of these series need be read in sequence. Volume 1 is AXEMAN'S JAZZ, from the Edgar Award-winning Skip Langdon mystery series WHAT’S THE PERFECT KILLING FIELD FOR A MURDERER?A place where he (or maybe she) can learn your secrets from your own mouth and then make friends over coffee. A supposedly "safe" place where anonymity is the norm. The horror who calls himself The Axeman has figured it out and claimed his territory. He's cherry-picking his murder victims in the 12-Step programs of New Orleans, and he just needs to go down, and fast, because this is New Aw'lins, dawlin'—half the town is either alcoholic or co-dependent! Who better to take him out than tall, funny, social-misfit Skip Langdon, now a homicide detective on the Axeman team, a gig that takes her into the 12-Step groups to meet the suspects. As Skip threads her way from one self-help group to another, she knows what they do that among their anonymous numbers is a murderous, and dangerously attractive psychopath…Volume 2 is TOURIST TRAP, a selection from Edgar-winner Julie Smith's Rebecca Schwartz series. SO WHAT’S A NICE JEWISH GIRL DOING AT AN EASTER SUNRISE SERVICE?Lawyer Rebecca Schwartz would pick the one with the body nailed to the landmark cross! Coincidence? Not so much. She's there because her boy friend's covering the service for the San Francisco Chronicle. The body's there because someone's making a statement he doesn't want the press to miss. mass shellfish poisoning at Pier 39. This serial killer seems to have a grudge against the whole city. And this is a very different kind of serial killer tale—a funny one. (If you don't count the murders, of course.) Rebecca's warm and witty, never takes herself too seriously, and on one occasion offers closing testimony with green hair. The things she’ll do to make her case! Unorthodox, often hilarious, yet always professional. Hyper-professional, perhaps. The average lawyer simply can’t be bothered spraying herself with Thunderbird to fit in with her witnesses!Volume 3 is P.I. ON A HOT TIN ROOF, a cozy New Orleans Talba Wallis mystery YOUR LAWYER NEEDS YOU TO BAIL HER OUT? ISN'T THAT KIND OF BACKWARDS? New Orleans’ most dynamic detective duo, poet/computer genius Talba and street-savvy Luddite Eddie Valentino, have a personal interest in this one—Eddie’s lawyer daughter Angie’s been set up for a drug bust. Prominent Judge Buddy Champagne’s the obvious perp and Talba’s so mad she embeds herself in his house as a spy—but she didn’t count on ending up with a family straight out of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof ; nor did she realize how involved she was going to get—especially with Buddy’s 14-year-old daughter Lucy.PLUS … PRIVATE A Short Story With Fashion Sense! less

ASIN B00817OUCS moved to the most recent edition"A genuinely moving mystery...It's always a pleasure to spend time with Skip, a no-nonsense, level-headed heroine in a wild and reckless city."THE BALTIMORE SUNSmack in the middle of the summer, Skip finds herself investigating the stabbling death of the universally beloved producer of the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival... moreASIN B00817OUCS moved to the most recent edition"A genuinely moving mystery...It's always a pleasure to spend time with Skip, a no-nonsense, level-headed heroine in a wild and reckless city."THE BALTIMORE SUNSmack in the middle of the summer, Skip finds herself investigating the stabbling death of the universally beloved producer of the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival. Then the victim's sixteen-year-old sister disappears, and Skip suspects that if the young woman isn't herself the murderer, she's in mortal danger from the person who is. And with her long-distance love, Steve Steinman, and her landlord, Jimmy Dee, to assist her, Skip trails an elusive killer through the delirium of a city caught up in the world's most famous music bash.... less

ASIN moved from less recent editionMurder most viral!In 1994, when Mark Zuckerberg was ten and this book was first published, the Internet was the fresh new face in town--who knew how dangerous it could be? Twenty-year-old Geoff Kavanagh should never have posted about seeing his father murdered…because way too many people on the TOWN, a sort of Facebook-of-the nineties, knew things about his family he didn’t even suspect... moreASIN moved from less recent editionMurder most viral!In 1994, when Mark Zuckerberg was ten and this book was first published, the Internet was the fresh new face in town--who knew how dangerous it could be? Twenty-year-old Geoff Kavanagh should never have posted about seeing his father murdered…because way too many people on the TOWN, a sort of Facebook-of-the nineties, knew things about his family he didn’t even suspect. Decades-old skeletons start falling out of closets after Geoff’s untimely death, thanks to New Orleans Detective Skip Langdon. Langdon finds Geoff’s gorgeous mom suspiciously uninterested in her son’s fatal fall. But Mom’s apparently the only one. It seems the post has gone viral. Suddenly all the TOWNSpeople have theories—and ambition as cyber-detectives. What’s a murderer to do but kill his way out?Formerly titled "New Orleans Beat." less

The sequel to House of Blues, Smith's latest novel features the return of New Orleans police detective Skip Langdon. The upcoming mayoral election pits the the usual thugs and vipers against a Errol Jacomine, a liberal-minded, civic-spirited preacher. The trouble is, in Skip's opinion, Jacomine is a psychopath and dangerous as hell.

Alternate cover edition for ISBN 9781617507618