New Book Alert: Wicked Bleu (Simone Doucet Series Book 2) by E. Denise Billups; New Orleans Setting and Haunting Backstory Captivate Supernatural Mystery

New Book Alert: Wicked Bleu (Simone Doucet Series Book 2) by E. Denise Billups; New Orleans Setting and Haunting Backstory Captivate Supernatural Mystery

By Julie Sara Porter

Bookworm Reviews

Spoilers: If you are going to write a supernatural mystery in which a ghost of a murdered woman haunts her descendant and helpa her solve family mysteries, it might as well be set in New Orleans during Mardi Gras.

Yes, it's cliche but it is a setting that lends itself to such magic and mystery by its very nature. It is one of the best locations for this type of genre and is one of my favorite places to read about. In good books, New Orleans becomes a character that thrives on this supernatural energy and respect and reverence for all things macabre.

In this case New Orleans is not the only star of E. Denise Billups' Wicked Bleu, the second volume of Billups' Simone Doucet. The other is the title character, Bleu, the ghost of a woman who lived a life of abuse, racism, and sexual assault and makes her voice heard finally. 

First, Bleu invades psychic and magazine writer Simone Doucet's dreams and gives her visual and audio impressions of her presence. Simone had long communicated with her ancestor and spiritual advisor, Delphine so communicating with ghosts is nothing new to her. But, Bleu's presence is more threatening. 

Simone had visions of violence and drowning. Worst of all, her friend, Stacy, seems to be acting strangely like she's possessed. The answers appear to be found in New Orleans so Simone, Stacy, and their friends Mitchell and Jude go to the Big Easy during Mardi Gras to do some super sleuthing and ghost hunting.

The New Orleans setting is very prominent and is filled with spooky elements. There are many passages where Simone and her friends have to face New Orleans' undead residents.

It's an all too easy location to imagine ghosts around every corner from Jackson Square to the Garden District. 

The book also reveals the less savory aspects of New Orleans' past, particularly the Storyville section, a notorious haven for prostitution. When a location has a depraved history of racism and misogyny, there are bound to be spirits trapped because of a society that profited off another's suffering.

Much of the setting adds to Bleu's character revealing why she is a frightening and sympathetic character at the same time. Many of the chapters where she possesses Stacy add to the overall eeriness. Stacy acts contrary to her usual behavior so Simone and the others are concerned for the changes in her friend. 

 Bleu flirts with total strangers and jeopardizes Stacy's health in her pursuit of the pleasures that she had in life. She also cuts Stacy off from her friends by creating dissension and discomfort among them. In her anger over the injustices that she suffered in life, Bleu makes an effort to put the living, especially the woman whom she possesses in an emotional hostage situation. 

We also spend the last third learning about Bleu's history. Simone reads her diary and recounts an abusive lonely life with an immature prostitute mother and being subjected to abuse and degradation in her youth. 

Bleu's diary is heartbreaking as she is buried with secrets that destroyed not only her life but those of the people close to her. The racism and sexism surrounds her as she strives to make a better life for herself but ends up in a far worse situation than she imagined. This guilt and anger compel to seek revenge from beyond the grave and puts innocent modern lives at risk.

Wicked Bleu is an effective supernatural horror novel because it reminds us that some monsters are born and some are made by society.