When Perrine Dupré dies under suspicious circumstances her daughter, Julie Ann Dupré, returns to New Orleans to find the truth about her mother’s death. She uncovers a family secret, hidden for years. Now someone is trying to kill her. Will the little dog who appears after her mother’s death help her? Is the sexy detective out to help her, or is he part of police corruption? Detective Connor O’Reilly, a native of New Orleans, comes from a family of police. He’s an honest cop but realizes there is corruption in the division. His father may have died as part of that corruption. He meets Julie Ann, checks out her mother’s death and finds it was badly handled. Julie Ann deserves the truth and he wants to find it for her. Julie Ann and Connor work together to unravel the real reason behind Perrine Dupré’s murder, Julie Ann’s mysterious past, and why people want her dead, while developing their challenging relationship. Can they both survive? And can their relationship survive?
Beverley Bateman
Give us the one to two sentence tagline for your book.
Love and death amid in New Orleans How to find love, a killer and survive amid, visions, voodoo, and a special dog.
What surprised you the most while writing this book?
How much I learned about voodoo and some of the older New Orleans customs
Why did you pick the setting you used for your book?
I love New Orleans, the history, Marie Laveau, the ghosts, psychics, graveyards and the architecture.
What is the sexiest trait of your hero(s)?
His emerald green eyes, but his taunt butt isn’t bad either.
What is your favorite scene/moment in your book?
Hmm, maybe when they are both captured and tied up and Marie, the dog, appears in the room to help them escape.
What scene did you have to cut but wish could have been included?
The scene in the heroine’s apartment in New Yor, when she feels her mother’s death.
Tropes get a bad name, but they’re often the biggest draw for readers. What tropes do you love to write and read?
Heroine in danger; love conquers all, love at first sight, happy endings
What are your favorite genres/sub-genres to write in? Are there any you love to read but cannot write in?
I love romantic suspense. I enjoy category romance but I can’t write it because I always have to kill someone.
Which do you love to write best: dialogue, setting, action, love scenes, or other?
Oh, wow, maybe a combination. I like to write action but it needs to be the right setting. And I love to write character interaction and how they relate and grow.
Which do you hate to write: dialogue, setting, action, love scenes, or other?
I guess it would have to be love scenes. I like writing love scenes where their emotions for each other grow and develop, but I can’t write scenes the actual sex scene that follows. Mine always sound like insert tab a into tab b.
Excerpt from Death Southern Style
Perrine Dupré hurried down the street. Dark New Orleans clouds hovered overhead. Thunder rolled through the skies. Large drops of late May rain pelted the streets of the French Quarter. It sounded like hail as the fat drops bounced off the pavement behind Perrine. The ozone mixed with the scent of magnolia and the smell of shrimp and fish cooking in the area.
The older African American woman struggled against the wind. It whipped her umbrella inside out. She clutched it tightly so not to lose it. Rain clouded her eyes. She stumbled up the three steps to her front door. Juggling her parcels, umbrella and the key Perrine jabbed it in the direction of the lock. Finally, the key found the opening and turned.
Her daughter was coming home for a visit. Perrine’s pulse increased and a smile sneaked out.
Perrine loved her New Orleans. She hated to travel, but two years ago she’d gone to New York to see Julie Ann and her new business. It was a mass of busy airports and crowded flights, but she’d enjoyed seeing New York and staying in her daughter’s apartment. Her daughter had showed off her interior design business, introduced to a few of her friends and dragged Perrine to some of the typical tourist activities. Julie Ann been getting her interior design business established then and had trouble finding time to leave it and come home. Recently she’d taken on a partner and now had a little more time. Tomorrow Julie Ann would be home in New Orleans and Perrine could give her a big hug.
Thunder rumbled across the sky, sounding like pins crashing in a bowling alley.
Perrine turned the doorknob and froze.
A vision flashed in front of her. Her shoulders sagged. Her visons didn’t lie. She wasn’t going to see Julie Ann after all. And she’d miss their regular telephone call tonight, too.
She wasn’t prepared to die. A single tear shimmered down her cheek. Her heart pounded. She clutched her parcels to her chest. Why now?
Beverley Bateman now lives in Medicine Hat, Alberta. She recently moved from the Okanagan Valley in BC, Canada. Instead of vineyards, orchards, lakes, and mountains she has ranches, farmers and a close community. She lives there with her husband and her Bichon-poodle rescue dog. During the cold Alberta winters, she snowbirds to Arizona and does glass fusion, watercolor painting and plays the ukulele besides working on her latest romantic suspense. Hunted, Missing and Targeted are part of her Montana series. She also has her Holly Devine series; A Cruise to Remember, and a Murder to Forget. Don’t Go is her darker romantic suspense.
Ellen Mint 
Thanks for having me as a guest on your blog, Ellen. Great website.
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