Claire DeWitt and the City of the Dead

By: Sara Gran

Narrated by: Carol Monda

Length: 8 hrs and 40 mins

Publisher's summary

Claire DeWitt is not your average private investigator. She has brilliant skills of deduction and is an ace at discovering evidence. But Claire also uses her dreams, omens, and mind-expanding herbs to help her solve mysteries, and relies on Détection—the only book published by the great and mysterious French detective Jacques Silette before his death.

The tattooed, pot-smoking Claire has just arrived in post-Katrina New Orleans, the city she’s avoided since her mentor, Silette’s student Constance Darling, was murdered there. Claire is investigating the disappearance of Vic Willing, a prosecutor known for winning convictions in a homicide-plagued city. Has an angry criminal enacted revenge on Vic? Or did he use the storm as means to disappear? Claire follows the clues, finding old friends and making new enemies—foremost among them Andray Fairview, a young gang member who just might hold the key to the mystery.

©2011 Original material by Sara Gran. (P)2011 HighBridge Company

Fantastic Unconventional Detective Mystery

I absolutely loved this novel/audiobook; wonderful characters, rich landscape, compelling narrative laced with vision and warmth. If you enjoy detective driven mysteries, don't miss this truly fantastic series starter. Claire DeWitt is now my favorite literary detective. Can't wait to start book 2....!

Great story

Poor, non educated People in a Gritty, dirty environment trying to find a way through life.

GReat

Moving funny, sad but engrossing. Couldn't put it down. Great detective novel about New Orleans.

Its ok but rather long

An interesting story set against the backdrop of an inadequate federal and state response to the horrors of hurricane Katrina

Interesting Story

This was an interesting read , a private investigator is hired to return to New Orleans after the floods in order to figure out what happened to his uncle. He has inherited his uncles estate wants to find out who or what caused his death. The writing is descriptive and gritty with a few slurs that quite frankly didn’t need to be there. There’s a heavy focus on the drug culture of New Orleans as well as the predators preying on the helpless and their hopelessness. Overall not a bad read

Perfect book, perfect narrator.

Simply one of the best books I have listened to in a very long time. I've enjoyed other audible books but not anything like this one. Claire DeWhitt is not sugar coated. She's tough talking, insightful and intellegent. The New Orleans setting is spot on for after "the storm" as are the characters and story line.
It's rare when a book and a narrator are such a perfect match and this one is just that. Carol Monda is Claire DeWhitt in my mind. She was beyond perfect.

New Orleans exactly

This was one of the most interesting books I've listened to in awhile. As another reviewer noted, the narration is perfect for the story and the character. Also perfect is the portrayal of New Orleans as a place where mysticism and logic, despair, decay and beauty all co-exist without any particular concern for the others. I very very much recommend this title.

Claire DeWitt and the City of the Dead

Would you try another book from Sara Gran and/or Carol Monda?

No

What do you think your next listen will be?

Odd Hours

What about Carol Monda’s performance did you like?

Yes she's a grreat narrator.

Did Claire DeWitt and the City of the Dead inspire you to do anything?

No I felt the mood was so dark and the sixth sense ability was too gimicky.

Any additional comments?

This was almost a good book; too bad the mood was always dark, all the characters were so flawed that their actions didn't match who they were and finally the mind reading skill was just too much. Why can't a female hero be good and not have to have a

good start

Claire DeWitt is like a closer-to-real-life Stephanie Plum (Janet Evanovich). Considering the popularity of the Stephanie Plum series the lack of superficial characteristics may keep her from becoming famous.
The grit of the characters is what I liked best. There was some real honesty in the story. I've spent time in New Orleans before and after Katrina and she hit it. There were areas that were completely rebuilt in 6 months and others that are probably still abandoned in a pile of black mold infested rubble.
Sara Gran is a great writer. I really look forward to the series.

Not an easy listen.

The story was good but getting to the end was difficult. I appreciated how the revelation of the shooter came about and the justification of eliminating the bad guy. I typically do not mind rough language but the repetition of such was uncomfortable for me. I would not recommend the book to my friends.