Sheila C. reviewed on 11/29/2005 + 8 more book reviews

Helpful Score: 2

Part of Hambly's Benjamin January mystery series, A Free Man of Color is set in New Orleans in 1833, revealing the extremely complex city, socially, politically and economically, and especially matters of race. Charting the subtle but important distinctions made between people of direct or mixed African ancestry, Hambly develops Benjamin January's search for a brutal killer of the beautiful light-skinned Angelique Corzat at one of the season's most important Quadroon Balls. Benjamin January himself is a "free man of color" a gens de colouer. He is also a musician educated in classical music and a surgeon who has returned to New Orleans after several years of schooling in Paris. January, seeking to ease the pain and loss he experienced in Paris, experiences little succor in New Orleans, where, even as a free man, he is still relegated to second-class status. Unable to practice as a surgeon, he attempts to eke out a living as a musician, playing at the balls and operas which proliferated in New Orleans during this time.
Of the many popular social events in New Orleans, the quadroon balls ranked as the crem-de-la-creme of demi monde society. These were social events in which wealthy, white Creole men would meet, and select, a quadroon (child of a mulatto and full white) mistress. The man, or protector, would then support his mistress, or placee, in high fashion, though he would do so separate from his own household. Should he choose to terminate the relationship, he would often provide a settlement to his placee sufficient for her to continue to live in the fashion to which she had become accustomed. And, all the while, the wife and/or family of the protector would feign ignorance. It is while playing at a quadroon ball that January is drawn into a web of intrigue against his own desires. He encounters a masked lady of his acquaintance, the recently widowed Mademoiselle Madeleine, who is preparing to do what, for a white woman, is simply unthinkable for that place and time: enter quadroon ball to confront Angelique Crozat, her late husband's mistress. January offers to function as an intermediary to arrange a meeting between Madeleine and Angelique. His offer quickly goes awry however, when Angelique is found brutally murdered at the ball.

The local authorities, given Angelique's place and station in society, are initially reluctant to pursue the matter. It accordingly is left to January to obtain what justice he can for her by investigating the murder himself. As the clues slowly point to the son of a wealthy, prominent, white New Orleanian, however, January, to his horror, finds himself under a cloud of suspicion which is growing ever larger and darker. The investigation takes on a new urgency as he realizes that he must find Angelique's murderer as much to obtain justice for her as to save himself. A fascinating book, part history, part historical novel, and an intriguing, highly readable mystery.

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