A Circle of Magic

In 1943 Henry Stanley Clark died at the Roosevelt Hotel in New Orleans, Louisiana. Despite the fact that the New Orleans coroners determined that a brain aneurysm killed Henry, his widow, Maybelle Merriweather-Clark, was convinced otherwise. Until her death in 1984, Maybelle believed that Henry had been murdered. Maybelle’s mastery of powerful black magic and voodoo, and her ability to conjure the spirits of the dead, are not enough to confirm her belief. All she’s ever able to do is to place the visions, the apparitions, the smells, and the sounds of her suspicions within a leather briefcase, which only certain chosen ones can experience. The chosen ones are specified in Maybelle’s will, and each is offered the challenge of deciphering the briefcase’s clues. Two of the chosen will have a special gift-the precious ability to see the magic of this world and to understand the machinations of the spirits that move among us. The chosen include her nephew, a Denver cop; her personal assistant; and her great-nephew, both of whom are gay. Until one of the chosen three proves Maybelle’s suspicions, Henry remains in the tortured stasis in which Maybelle has placed him for his past indiscretions.