Daddy's Gone A-Hunting

Skinner's (Cat-Eyed Trouble) series hero, nightclub owner Wesley Farrell, back for his third outing in the New Orleans of the late 1930s, is still passing as white and disguising his Creole heritage. His girlfriend, Savanna, has lit out for Los Angeles and now he's falling for the sultry Carol Donovan, a black woman and the owner of another club. Hired thug Archie Badeaux, at the behest of wheelchair-bound crime boss Jonathan Lincoln, is putting the squeeze on Carol. Or so Carol insists. Intertwined with Farrell's story is that of Ernie LeDoux. Just released from prison, Ernie is itching to find the money he stole from a bank before being slapped behind bars. All this action coincides with a rash of murders that claims three prominent black businessmen, each linked to the same seemingly worthless piece of real estate. The atmosphere is as thick as Cajun gumbo, even if the surfeit of easy women and gun-toting hoodlums makes the plot an occasionally murky affair. Wesley casts an effectively spectral figure as he moves from whorehouse to gambling parlor to jazz joint. His motivations aren't altogether clear, but the violence always simmering beneath his surface gives him a raw and undeniable appeal. (Jan.)