This would be especially true for a teenager growing up in a foster home with parents who accepted her only because of a sense of duty or philanthropy. The reader can understand why an orphaned child with such a strong rumored link to the local culture of voodoo and magic would gravitate toward her purported heritage. I liked the main protagonist of Elise and her evolving back story as the reader moves through the pages of the story line.

The author does a splendid job with character development in this novel with her main characters. This characteristic is consistent with the rumors that Elise was the illegitimate daughter of an infamous Savannah root doctor (conjurer, witch doctor) named Jackson Sweet. It would not escape the imagination of any native of the streets of Savannah to realize the sum of all colors results in pitch black. Elises eyes are unique and arresting in that they contain an array of splinters and stars reflecting all colors. Rumors swirl about the fact that she was abandoned as an infant in a cemetery, perhaps even deposited atop a tombstone. The main character of Elise Sandberg is skillfully molded by the author into an intriguing figure who is immediately mysterious and yet working quietly within Savannahs police department as a dedicated Homicide Detective. Savannahs dark heritage and its pervasive local Gullah culture of voodoo and magic is as much a character in the plot as are the Homicide Detectives and the colorful yet dark and scary human characters who populate the novel. The underlying Gothic ambience of the haunting surroundings of the Old South envelops the story line like a colorful yet chilling cocoon.

The setting for her books following the exploits of Detective Elise Sandburg is the atmospheric streets of Savannah, Georgia. All four installments of the series were purchased a good while ago after I became an instant fan of Anne Frasier with THE BODY READER. PLAY DEAD (Elise Sandburg Book 1) By Anne Frasier My Review 3.75 Stars**** I just finished reading the debut novel of Frasiers book series featuring her new lead character Homicide Detective Elise Sandburg.

The Body Reader by Anne Frasier