Review for Voodoo on Bayou Lafonte by Susan C. Miller

This is my review for Voodoo on Bayou Lafonte by Susan C. Miller,  The opinions expressed are my own and are in no way influenced by anyone.

This book has a bit of everything.  Family drama, drugs, murder, mystery and romance.  Voodoo on Bayou Lafonte takes place mostly in a small town in Louisiana where superstitions run high and outsiders aren't exactly made to feel welcome.  The central characters are Detective Remy Steinberg and his ex-wife, Gabby Hough.  Their 17 year old daughter, Adrienne, is missing.  She's been missing for 30 hours at when Gabby makes a frantic call to Remy, who is working as a police detective in Houston.  From there we are off to the races.  The story picks up speed and never really slows down until the great, albeit somewhat formulaic, conclusion.

Remy and Gabby married very young and though divorced, it's easy to tell that they never stopped loving each other and that the reasons for their separation really had nothing to do with love and more to do with their own youth and insecurities.  Thrown together again by the disappearance of their daughter, sparks naturally ignite, and you have the romance portion.  It's not overdone at all, it doesn't feel faked or forced and really does add to the story.  Between the romance there is a very real tension between them as they battle to keep their wits about them while they frantically search for their daughter.

The small town sheriff doesn't seem to think that she's missing at all so he's not inclined to send out his men on a wild goose chase.  They have better things to do, like play video poker.  There is a bit of hilarity at the expense of the stereotypical small town police office that take care of a one stoplight town.  You almost feel sorry for them, but you're smiling as Remy and Gabby put one over on them again and again in the course of their own investigation.

There is a dark Voodoo priest who seems to be the leader of some pretty shady activity.  People seem to fear him and hate him but are all drawn in by his powers of persuasion.  There is a bit of mysticism thrown in, so you do have to have an open mind to the possibility of the supernatural.  Again, it's not overdone and it is believable to a degree.  Personally, I liked the addition of a little something extra, something totally unexplainable, to the story.  If it were set anywhere other than Louisiana, it probably wouldn't have worked, but it definitely did here.

I enjoyed the characters, particularly Remy and Gabby.  You easily found yourself rooting for them separately and also together.  You wanted everything to work out for them.  I wish there had been a little more time spent on the darker side of things, a better explanation of how some of the less nice elements actually tied into the story.  Some of them were a little flimsy, they had a place, but they weren't fleshed out quite as much as I would have personally liked.  They still added to the story but even without them, especially the illegal drug activity, the story would have still been a good one.

I would recommend this to anyone who likes a good mystery with a little romance and a little paranormal activity thrown in.  This is actually part of a series by this author, I was unaware of this until after I read the book and now I find myself wanting to go back and read more!!

Voodoo on Bayou Lafonte on Amazon