The Shoal of Time

by J. M. Redmann

  They had caught Jack. And John, Cara—the sister of the kingpin—Sandy, all the voices I’d heard in the house. Broken the back of a monster.

  They hadn’t caught Ashley. Yet.

  I also wrote Desiree with much of what I told Emily.

  Her reply was kind, saying she hoped to see me before she left. She was closing the business, tired of the life and its risk. She planned to sell her French Quarter property, now a hot market, and move somewhere out west, maybe a small Oregon town on the coast. As different a life as she could imagine herself in. I hoped I’d see her before she left, too.

  About a week after I got here, Ashley sent me a brief email: I knew you’d call. You’re that kind of person. An hour was too much to ask. I left the airport and am trying to find a different life. One you might respect me for. Maybe. Or maybe she was a liar to the end. No matter how much she changed, gave up her lying, I’d never trust her, never believe her again.

  I’d be back in Melbourne in a few days.

  At the moment, I was sitting on a bluff just off the Great Ocean Road. I’d found some mates, Lindy and Chell, and together we were on a road trip. First we’d gone to the Barossa Valley, one of the great wine-producing areas of Australia, sort of like Napa Valley with kangaroos.

  We were coming back via the Great Ocean Road, a place that had always been on my bucket list. Cordelia and I had talked of it, our runaway plan. I was sad she wasn’t here with me—she’d have to get to this part of the world on her own—but happy I was on this seared umber bluff, seeing the great sculpture of rock and waves carved by nature.

  I was slowly learning to forgive myself. I had tried to be a decent person, had tried to do the right thing. Had failed and failed again, but even so, tried to learn from my mistakes. I couldn’t ask for perfection, only that I tried—and kept trying—to do the right thing.

  I was writing postcards and letters to all my friends. Torbin and Andy, Danny and Elly, Joanne and Alex. Telling them what great friends they had always been to me and how much they meant, the things I would have regretted leaving unsaid if I’d been blown into the sky. Telling them I had taken a break, needed some time to think things through, the usual clichés.

  But it was true. I needed to see the vastness of the world, to remind myself of the possibilities in it, how small my troubles were in comparison.

  I sent a postcard to Cordelia, to our address in New Orleans with a request that it be forwarded. I didn’t say I missed her, although I did. I just let her know I’d finally made it here, was sitting on a sandy bluff watching the startlingly blue waves crash against this slowly eroding cliff.

  The world can be a beautiful and savage place.

  Today it was beautiful.

  About the Author

  J.M. Redmann is the author of a mystery series featuring New Orleans private detective Michele “Micky” Knight. Her latest book is Ill Will, which made the American Library Association GLBT Roundtable’s 2013 Over the Rainbow list. Her previous book, Water Mark, was also on the Over the Rainbow list and won a Foreword Magazine Gold Medal for mystery. Two of her earlier books, The Intersection Of Law & Desire and Death Of A Dying Man, have won Lambda Literary Awards; all but her first book have been nominated. Law & Desire was an Editor’s Choice of the San Francisco Chronicle and a recommended book on NPR’s Fresh Air. Her books have been translated into Spanish, German, Dutch, Norwegian, and Hebrew. She is the co-editor with Greg Herren of three anthologies, Night Shadows: Queer Horror, Women of the Mean Streets: Lesbian Noir, and Men of the Mean Streets: Gay Noir. Redmann lives in an historic neighborhood in New Orleans, at the edge of the area that flooded.

  Acclaim for J.M. Redmann’s Micky Knight Series

  Ill Will

  Lambda Literary Award Winner

  Foreword Magazine Honorable Mention

  “Ill Will is fast-paced, well-plotted, and peopled with great characters. Redmann’s dialogue is, as usual, marvelous. To top it off, you get an unexpected twist at the end. Please join me in hoping that book number eight is well underway.”—Lambda Literary Review

  “Ill Will is a solidly plotted, strongly character-driven mystery that is well paced.”—Mysterious Reviews

  Water Mark

  Foreword Magazine Gold Medal Winner

  Golden Crown Literary Award Winner

  “Water Mark is a rich, deep novel filled with humor and pathos. Its exciting plot keeps the pages flying, while it shows that long after a front page story has ceased to exist, even in the back sections of the newspaper, it remains very real to those whose lives it touched. This is another great read from a fine author.”—Just About Write

  Death of a Dying Man

  Lambda Literary Award Winner

  “Like other books in the series, Redmann’s pacing is sharp, her sense of place acute and her characters well crafted. The story has a definite edge, raising some discomfiting questions about the selfishly unsavory way some gay men and lesbians live their lives and what the consequences of that behavior can be. Redmann isn’t all edge, however—she’s got plenty of sass. Knight is funny, her relationship with Cordelia is believably long-term-lover sexy and little details of both the characters’ lives and New Orleans give the atmosphere heft.”—Lambda Book Report

  “As the investigation continues and Micky’s personal dramas rage, a big storm is brewing. Redmann, whose day job is with NOAIDS, gets the Hurricane Katrina evacuation just right—at times she brought tears to my eyes. An unsettled Micky searches for friends and does her work as she constantly grieves for her beloved city.”—New Orleans Times-Picayune

  The Intersection of Law and Desire

  Lambda Literary Award Winner

  San Francisco Chronicle Editor’s Choice for the year

  Profiled on Fresh Air, hosted by Terry Gross, and selected for book reviewer Maureen Corrigan’s recommended holiday book list.

  “Superbly crafted, multi-layered…One of the most hard-boiled and complex female detectives in print today.”—San Francisco Chronicle (An Editor’s Choice selection for 1995)

  “Fine, hard-boiled tale-telling.”—Washington Post Book World

  “An edge-of-the-seat, action-packed New Orleans adventure…Micky Knight is a fast-moving, fearless, fascinating character…The Intersection of Law and Desire will win Redmann lots more fans.”—New Orleans Times-Picayune

  “Crackling with tension…an uncommonly rich book…Redmann has the making of a landmark series.”—Kirkus Review

  “Perceptive, sensitive prose; in-depth characterization; and pensive, wry wit add up to a memorable and compelling read.”—Library Journal

  “Powerful and page turning…A rip-roaring read, as randy as it is reflective…Micky Knight is a to-die-for creation…a Cajun firebrand with the proverbial quick wit, fast tongue, and heavy heart.”—Lambda Book Report

  Lost Daughters

  “A sophisticated, funny, plot-driven, character-laden murder mystery set in New Orleans…as tightly plotted a page-turner as they come…One of the pleasures of Lost Daughters is its highly accurate portrayal of the real work of private detection—a standout accomplishment in the usually sloppily conjectured world of thriller-killer fiction. Redmann has a firm grasp of both the techniques and the emotions of real-life cases—in this instance, why people decide to search for their relatives, why people don’t, what they fear finding and losing…and Knight is a competent, tightly wound, sardonic, passionate detective with a keen eye for detail and a spine made of steel.”—San Francisco Chronicle

  “Redmann’s Micky Knight series just gets better…For finely delineated characters, unerring timing, and page-turning action, Redmann deserves the widest possible audience.”—Booklist, starred review

  “Like fine wine, J.M. Redmann’s private eye has developed interesting depths and nuances with age…Redmann continues to write some of the fastest –moving action scenes in the business…In Lost Daughters, Redmann has found a winning combination of action and emotion that should attract ne
w fans—both gay and straight—in droves.”—New Orleans Times Picayune

  “An admirable, tough PI with an eye for detail and the courage, finally, to confront her own fear. Recommended.”—Library Journal

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