Midnight Bayou

Author: Nora Roberts
Published: November 26, 2002 (Jove)
Category: Romance
Rating: 8/10

In 1899, Abby, wife of wealthy Lucian Manet, is raped and killed by her brother-in-law, Julian (twin to Lucian) in the middle of the night. Lucian, away on business, doesn't know that his mother, who always disapproved of his marrying a woman of the bayou, covered up the murder and tells him Abby ran away with another man.

In 2002, Declan Fitzgerald, successful lawyer, picks up his life in Boston and moves to New Orleans, having purchased the decrepit old Manet Hall. Other people have tried to to restore the mansion before, but the ghosts of the Manet family have driven them out. However, Declan feels a connection with the hall, and it feels right for him to be there, despite the disturbing visions and noises he experiences while renovating the place. He relives the romance of Abby and Lucian, the birth of their child (I found it interesting that a man got to experience childbirth), and her murder. It turns out that Declan was reliving Abby's memories, and that meant Lucian, the other half of the ill-fated couple would be played by a descendant of his daughter.

Angelina, owner of a successful bar, falls for Declan, but doesn't want to commit because she's got issues, thanks to her good-for-nothing crackwhore of a mother. Once in a while, her mother shows up, saying she's cleaned up her act, then robs Angelina or Angelina's grandmother, and disappears for a while. This time, the deadbeat mother tries seducing Declan, and when he rejects her, she robs him. Next to Abby's horrid mother-in-law, Angelina's mom was my least-liked character in the book.

I thought the ending was kinda anticlimactic. Abby and Lucian weren't the only spirits haunting the place; Lucian's mother was there as well, slamming doors and such when Declan decided to alter the original plans of the hall. I thought there'd be this big showdown against psycho mama ghost after Declan and Angelina set the spirits of Abby and Lucian to rest by solving the murder mystery.

Despite disappointments with the ending, the book was great with fantastically written descriptions of the bayou and New Orleans. It made me want some creole cooking (good thing there's a New Orleans-style restaurant close by).