Guest Post: Thoughts on Shadows of Frenchmen and New Orleans by Michael Rigg

Disclosure / Disclaimer: I received this post, and giveaway, free of charge, from the author via Partners in Crime Book Tours, for posting purposes on this blog. No other compensation, monetary or in kind, has been received or implied for this post. Nor was I told how to post about it. All opinions are my own

I reviewed this new book, and shared the author's giveaway,last week: https://blesstheirheartsmom.blogspot.com/2026/07/book-review-shadows-of-frenchmen-by.html. Check it out after you read today's post!

SHADOWS OF FRENCHMEN

Thank you for this opportunity to join the “Bless Their Hearts Mom” blogosphere to discuss my latest novel, Shadows of Frenchmen. And thank you for your March 2nd post (and Goodreads review) about my debut novel, Voices of the Elysian Fields, which was nominated for an Agatha at Malice Domestic and which is nominated for an Anthony at Bouchercon—both in the Best First Novel category. It’s been “one heck of a year” for a new author.

My tagline for Shadows of Frenchmen is “The Zodiac Killer Comes to Mardi Gras.” The action starts on February 1st—about three weeks after the end of Voices of the Elysian Fields. Jonathan Gray, Coroner of Orleans Parish, is summoned to a gruesome crime scene in Washington Square Park in the Marigny neighborhood (faubourg) adjacent to Frenchmen Street in New Orleans. He discovers a dead man splayed against the city's AIDS memorial. The dead man has strange symbols carved into his forehead and chest. A coded note—a cipher—has been placed under one hand. The body mutilation and note are hallmarks of a serial killer dubbed by the news media as the "Mardi Gras Sweeper," because he strikes during every other Carnival season and leaves coded manifestos taunting police and giving hints about his next victim, before disappearing as mysteriously as he arrived.

Normally, the police would take the lead in investigating a murder like this, with the Coroner’s office in support. But hoping to avoid a panic during the city's most profitable season, Mayor Max Jamerson asks Gray to investigate the murder without formal assistance from the New Orleans Police Department. Time is of the essence as Gray races to figure out the cipher and track down the Sweeper in order to prevent additional killings—and save Mardi Gras.

No spoiler alerts here, but I’ll be especially interested in what readers think of “the Sweeper’s” character arc over the course of the novel. Will they find the Sweeper a villain to be reviled or one that they’ll secretly root for? And will that view change as dead bodies continue to appear?

Perhaps I should leave on that dramatic note. But, bless my heart, I was never one to leave well enough alone. In closing, I’d like to comment on a theme in the blog/review of Voices of the Elysian Fields: “…it is hard for those not from New Orleans to truly capture the city and its inhabitants.” The city’s uniqueness comes through in many ways, beginning with pronunciation of street names, locations, and names in general. So, in Shadows of Frenchmen, I added an “Note from the Author” highlighting some of the pronunciation differences for locations, etc. mentioned in the novel. I won’t go into detail, but I’ll leave you with this: “Don’t order Burgundy on Burgundy Street.” IYKYK.

Again, many thanks, and Smiles! And, as always, “Let the good times roll.”

About the Author:

Agatha and Anthony-nominated author Michael Rigg, a lawyer for more than four decades, writes mysteries and thrillers set in two very different locations: Virginia Beach (where he lives) and New Orleans (which he visits as often as possible “for research,” including participation in three Mardi Gras Krewes). He is a retired Navy Judge Advocate and a retired civilian government attorney, formerly working for the Department of the Navy Office of the General Counsel. He is a member of International Thriller Writers, Mystery Writers of America, and both the Sisters in Crime national organization and its Southeastern Virginia Chapter—Mystery by the Sea.