SEASON OF FRIENDS

Vickie and Anne on porch

This summer has been a season of friends, traveling afar to be with them and staying at home to receive them, and the latest visitor was a long-term friend from New Iberia, Louisiana. Yesterday, Anne Simon, author of mysteries called “The Blood Series” — Blood in the Cane Field, Blood in the Lake, and Blood of Believers — sat a spell with us on the small porch facing our woods here in Sewanee, Tennessee. Presently, Anne, a retired district judge, has turned her attention from writing mysteries to telling the story of an African-American woman named Felicité who nursed yellow fever victims in New Iberia during the 19th century, and we enjoyed a good writers’ chat concerning the extensive research she has been doing regarding Felicité.

We sat on the porch “taking the air,” as we say in south Louisiana, and I was reminded of the essay I wrote for Porch Posts (co-authored with Janet Faulk-Gonzales) a few years ago. This morning, I re-read my last essay in this book entitled “The Ultimate Porch:” 

“It [the porch] would be a place to which people brought peace and conversation, laughter, and their willingness to take time out. For me, the ultimate porch would also be a dual haven, in early morning hours offering me a safe place where I could sit in silence, stilling the storm of some past suffering in my mind, or expressing myself in writing, all my senses effortlessly taking in the scene around me, interrupted only by the squawk of a crow bringing me messages of affirmation.

Mostly, I’d want to bring to it my “belonging”… with friends, family, and community… where, as C.S. Lewis said, we all saw the same truth: love. Evening would be the best time for porch sitting, a time like that of an old memory at early dusk when there was just enough light to read by, and my Grandmother Nell and I sat together in a scaling, green-painted swing, reading from Stevenson’s A Child’s Garden of Verse: “The world is so full of a number of things,/I’m sure we should all be as happy as kings.”

In early September, we plan to venture over to LaGrange, Georgia to sit on the new porch of our friend, Mary Ann Wilson, who probably loves porches as much as I do and was laying the foundation for one when we first visited her in June. It’s a screened one overlooking a patch of Georgia woods “in the country,” she says, “a place I’ve never lived.” Every time she writes, she’s on that porch, enjoying a deserved retirement from the English Department at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, her “roofed-in observation post where she can sit to get a clear view of what’s in the world outside and that allows for amiable company…”*

Moon in a Bucket

*Introduction to Porch Posts by Diane Marquart Moore and Janet-Faulk Gonzales. Illustration by Paul Schexnayder in Porch Posts.

BLOOD IN THE LAKE

A friend in Washington, D.C. who was once a resident of New Iberia, Louisiana recently wrote that she had heard from several sources that Teche country was undergoing some kind of "literary renaissance"—authors were launching their books in all corners of Acadiana. I agreed with her, and yesterday I attended another notable launch by retired District Judge Anne Simon, the book signing of Blood In the Lake. This novel is a legal thriller that combines the author's intelligence, humor, and knowledge of the law and is a fascinating read by a professional expert in courtroom drama. She's also a cogent example of an author whose writing style has been influenced by romantic Teche country: "We could barely see the bayou through the trees—a shimmering stream of dark roast coffee undulating half a football field below the house... The Bayou Teche in south Louisiana casts a spell, an inspiration for poets and a perfectly legal narcotic for the enchantment of those lucky enough to spend time on her shores..."

Blood In the Lake is the second of Simon's crime novels and is a story combining exciting courtroom scenes, moral dilemmas, romance, rich settings, and a line-up of colorful characters. The protagonist, Mandy Aguillard, an intern in the office of a New Iberia District Attorney, is drawn into a hunt for the killer of her grandfather, the patriarch of the Boudreaux clan who is victimized by principals in an illegal drug trade centered near Lake Peigneur. Mandy shows the action of the hunt in a strong voice that creates an empathetic connection to the Boudreaux family, harnessing the plot and moving it forward in well-constructed flow.

Mandy becomes romantically involved with Tom Barnett, a District Attorney who is the prosecutor in the case against her grandfather's killer. As the protagonist, Mandy provides the reader with a sense of immediacy that builds intense suspense, and Simon handles this expertly, carrying the reader toward impending disaster and ultimately placing Mandy in a dangerous situation that ends in a tragic denouement, which seems right for the story.

Simon's descriptions of bayou country involve all five senses, and she treats the reader to strong images; e.g., a nugget of information about Louisiana's Great Egret: "To my left, a Great Egret strolled through the muddy shallows. He stopped. Drawing up one twig-thin leg, he dangled his skinny, three-inch long, coal-black toes above the mirrored surface of the lake. Stretching his neck, he rotated slowly to survey the scene. Satisfied to find everything in order, he tipped his head ten degrees and pointed one beady eye downward into the murky water covering his feet..." Here, geography segues into vivid description without disturbing the flow of the story—the description assists the plot without overcoming the story line.

While the major characters in Blood In the Lake are portrayed as investigative personalities involved in the legal profession, Simon also achieves authenticity in her Cajun family characterizations; e.g., a scene with "PawPaw," Mandy's grandfather: "PawPaw loved his coffee hour with the boys. Every morning, around eleven o'clock, he and a half-dozen of his buddies gathered at Thibodeaux's Grocery in Coteau—not another town, just the settlement to the northwest. They tipped back in wooden chairs and propped their boots up on an old pot-bellied stove. The stove would've been cold in the late summer, but it crackled with fire in the winter. The boys at Thib's had very little concern for national or international affairs. Once they'd exchanged information about the height of the sugarcane and the going price for sugar and rice, they moved on to the political maneuvering for the next election. PawPaw would say it used to be so simple to know how everyone stood on the issues and to keep track of who supported who when everyone was either Long or an Anti-Long. Now things were all mixed up. You couldn't predict how a politician would turn out. They'd tell you one thing and do another..."

A long passage about 'Tienne, a family member who had spent two tours of duty in Vietnam, that ends in the poignant words, "I sat there safe under a tin roof and sent them out, one after another—to die," provides a traumatic experience in the story line that nuances the Boudreaux's "personal code" or the "character" of the family that produces the protagonist Mandy.   

A house fire and injury to a woman living in a trailer on Captain Cade Road near New Iberia, adds to the villainous atmosphere and to the suspicion that a sociopath operates in the quiet countryside surrounding the Queen City of the Teche. Dialogue in Blood In the Lake gives the reader a flavor of regional speech and stands the test of being read aloud. Mandy's voice is especially distinct and helps reveal motives, as well as develops the mood of the novel. She bears out Michael Connelly's adage: "There is a quality of redemption to anything that is true character...where a personal code is forged..."

Simon's experience in the courtroom and her passionate interest in the justice process makes this legal thriller a "must read," and she takes her place in the evolving "literary renaissance" in New Iberia, Louisiana of which my friend in Washington, D.C. spoke. The brilliant cover painting of Blood In the Lake was rendered by Nan Landry, also of New Iberia, and sets the tone for this arresting crime story. Another of Landry's paintings appeared on the cover of Simon's first crime novel, Blood in the Cane Field.

Brava Anne and Nan. May your tribe of readers increase!

BLOOD IN THE CANE FIELD

A few years ago, Anne Simon, a retired district judge in New Iberia, Louisiana, shared with me the news that she had been writing short stories and novels for many years; however, I had to wait several more years before she allowed me to read any of her writings. I knew that she had written many articles and briefs in her practice as an attorney and a judge, and I was prepared to read well-written prose, but what I found was polished creative writing that reminded me of the late Erle Stanley Gardner's Perry Mason series.

Last month, Anne's crime novel, Blood in the Cane Field, made its debut, and I suspect that it will become a runaway publication, perhaps a candidate for the Mystery Writers of America's Grand Master Award. This crime fiction publication, the first in a planned series of crime/courtroom stories, features murder and courtroom action that reflect Anne's legal and investigative abilities, as well as her experience as a noteworthy judge in south Louisiana.

The opening scene of Blood in the Cane Field reveals two bloody bodies lying in sugar cane stubble, discovered by a Texaco oilfield worker's dog, Praline. The action moves from this bloody scene to the narration of Public Defender John Clark III who becomes engaged in defense of Danny Howard, a surly, depressed teenager who has spent his first years of life at the edge of the Atchafalaya Basin in south Louisiana and who has been a participant in a party with the two murder victims. Danny is suspect because of his angry responses to racial slurs made about his dark skin, although he insists that he is white. As the Public Defender investigates the murder, he discovers the teenager's true parentage and attempts to counsel both the teenager and his mother.

The plot centers on Danny's confrontation with the death penalty twice and John Clark's investigation and attempts to keep Danny off Death Row. When John finds major exculpatory evidence in similar killings that have taken place in a nearby parish, the plot becomes highly suspenseful. Romance is interwoven in the story via the appearance of Medley Butterfield, a Mississippi woman with a questionable past, and John falls in love with her despite his resolve not to form a committed relationship. The couple uncovers evidence of political corruption and underground criminal activity that places Medley in danger, and the surprise denouement will delight those who like to see good legal representation/investigation rewarded and romance problems resolved.

Blood in the Cane Field reveals the author's fascination with the Cajun countryside—Anne's home for fifty years. Her descriptions of the area express her appreciation for the natural landscape and wildlife; e.g., "...Driving rain soon billowed folds of white gauze before our eyes, turning the sunlight to dusk, obscuring the trees that a few minutes before had been a radiant backdrop to the scene across the water...a short twenty minutes later the misty curtain rose, and returning sunlight sparkled through the last of the raindrops. White specks dotted the sky as flocks of egrets and ibis came in to roost. Hundreds of birds. They landed in the trees, pulled in their necks, tucked their beaks under their chest feathers, and settled down for the night. Then came the roseate spoonbills, an armada of pink sails heading for port..." (That last sentence is pure poetry!)

Names indigenous to Cajun country are sprinkled throughout the novel and are reflective of the nicknames that Cajuns often assign to their offspring: "Ti-Boy," "Snap-Dog," "Nee Nee"... Although Anne grew up in New Jersey, it's obvious that she feels strong affection for her adopted home in Louisiana, and she accurately depicts colorful folk aspects of south Louisiana culture in this piece of crime fiction. Blood in the Cane Field is an amazing first book in her Blood Crime series and signals the debut of a noteworthy Louisiana writer. It's a page turner—336 pages of fast-paced fiction!

Anne Simon was educated at Wellesley, Yale and Louisiana State University Law Schools and practiced law with her husband, raised a family, then became the first female judge in the Acadiana area.

Brava Anne! May your book writing become so voluminous that it exceeds Erle Stanley Gardner's 80 Perry Mason novels!