STORM WATERS
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KAT RICHARDSON
A modern noir thriller with a paranormal twist set in the Golden Age of Hollywood.
Prohibition has just ended, and the US is still struggling in the depths of the Great Depression. But for notorious playboy and ex-bootlegger Marty Storm, life couldn’t be better. Only his best friend knows about his knack for water magic—and for making “problems” disappear—though no one knows his family’s shipping business was built on sorcery and murder.
When he’s accused of a gruesome murder, he knows he’s been framed, but corrupt cops and his conscience aren’t his only problem. Vengeful spirits, a little girl with a strange connection to the Los Angeles River, a crate full of trouble, and broken memories, force him to unwind the horrifying secrets of his own past and return to the dark heart of his family in the bayous outside New Orleans. With some unlikely allies both new and old, Marty must confront the ugly source of his family’s fortune and power.
Murder, magic, love, death, and family: Marty Storm has come to the tipping point of his life, whether he knows it or not, and to control his destiny, he’ll take a desperate plunge into dark magic he swore he’d never use.
- November 12, 2024 978-1-958880-22-7
- trade paperback
- Cover art by Artemis Swenson
- Order copies below; or order ebook and print copies from these dealers.
A modern noir thriller with a paranormal twist set in the Golden Age of Hollywood.
Prohibition has just ended, and the US is still struggling in the depths of the Great Depression. But for notorious playboy and ex-bootlegger Marty Storm, life couldn’t be better. Only his best friend knows about his knack for water magic—and for making “problems” disappear—though no one knows his family’s shipping business was built on sorcery and murder.
When he’s accused of a gruesome murder, he knows he’s been framed, but corrupt cops and his conscience aren’t his only problem. Vengeful spirits, a little girl with a strange connection to the Los Angeles River, a crate full of trouble, and broken memories, force him to unwind the horrifying secrets of his own past and return to the dark heart of his family in the bayous outside New Orleans. With some unlikely allies both new and old, Marty must confront the ugly source of his family’s fortune and power.
Murder, magic, love, death, and family: Marty Storm has come to the tipping point of his life, whether he knows it or not, and to control his destiny, he’ll take a desperate plunge into dark magic he swore he’d never use.
"Storm Waters is a pitch-perfect killer noir — punched up with magic, and keenly imagined by a master of the form."
— Cherie Priest, author of Flight Risk
"I fully expected Humphrey Bogart to rise from his grave and volunteer to narrate Storm Waters. Kat Richardson has managed to capture that gritty noir feel of post-prohibition Hollywood. Marty Storm is tortured — physically and also just really messed up emotionally — and the mystery takes twists I wasn't expecting. It's a noir and stormy ride."
— Mary Robinette Kowal, award-winning author of The Lady Astronaut series
“Kat Richardson delivers a weird fantasy mystery that will delight fans of Philip Marlowe and Jim Butcher! Wild twists, devious plotting, sparkling dialogue, and a lot of bone-deep chills. Highly recommended!”
— Jonathan Maberry, NY Times bestselling author of NecroTek and editor of Weird Tales Magazine
"You should buy this book! It’s really good!"
— Charlaine Harris, author of the The Southern Vampire Mysteries
"For those of you who have been missing Kat Richardson's super smart and sassy style, pre-order now . . . If you know Kat’s writing, you know a couple of things. I wasn’t kidding about the smart. In every book, each and every one this one not excepted, I have to look up the definition of a word. Now that may not be a plus for you, but I taught English for a decade, and I love love love learning new words. But in this case, since Storm Waters is set in 1934 post-Prohibition Los Angeles, what I learned were a lot of slang words from the era. Filled with 30’s jargon and the same rapid-fire writing you’d expect out of Hammett and Chandler, make no mistake; there’s a solid story going on, well thought out, plotted and executed in the tight and taut manner you expect of all Kat Richardson books. There is sharp, biting humor, and there is violence. It ain’t always pretty. This is going to be one helluva series, and you want in from the beginning. November’s not as far away as you think it is, and you want to be in the know at the beginning."
— Seattle Mystery newsletter
"A blend of urban fantasy and noir mystery set during the Depression. Martingale Storm is a roguish crook, mostly reformed, who practices magic on a regular basis. He has to do that because vengeful ghosts wronged by his father and grandfather keep returning from the dead to hunt him down. But his life becomes even more complicated when a young girl with a strange mission enters his life, he is framed for a murder he didn’t commit, and he ultimately has to return to his native Louisiana in order to avoid some crooked cops and deal with some family issues. But home is not the refuge one might expect. The tone is actually fairly light as Storm has his various adventures, and the story unravels the system of hidden magic that exists in the background. The ending leads me to expect at least one sequel."
— Critical Mass
— Cherie Priest, author of Flight Risk
"I fully expected Humphrey Bogart to rise from his grave and volunteer to narrate Storm Waters. Kat Richardson has managed to capture that gritty noir feel of post-prohibition Hollywood. Marty Storm is tortured — physically and also just really messed up emotionally — and the mystery takes twists I wasn't expecting. It's a noir and stormy ride."
— Mary Robinette Kowal, award-winning author of The Lady Astronaut series
“Kat Richardson delivers a weird fantasy mystery that will delight fans of Philip Marlowe and Jim Butcher! Wild twists, devious plotting, sparkling dialogue, and a lot of bone-deep chills. Highly recommended!”
— Jonathan Maberry, NY Times bestselling author of NecroTek and editor of Weird Tales Magazine
"You should buy this book! It’s really good!"
— Charlaine Harris, author of the The Southern Vampire Mysteries
"For those of you who have been missing Kat Richardson's super smart and sassy style, pre-order now . . . If you know Kat’s writing, you know a couple of things. I wasn’t kidding about the smart. In every book, each and every one this one not excepted, I have to look up the definition of a word. Now that may not be a plus for you, but I taught English for a decade, and I love love love learning new words. But in this case, since Storm Waters is set in 1934 post-Prohibition Los Angeles, what I learned were a lot of slang words from the era. Filled with 30’s jargon and the same rapid-fire writing you’d expect out of Hammett and Chandler, make no mistake; there’s a solid story going on, well thought out, plotted and executed in the tight and taut manner you expect of all Kat Richardson books. There is sharp, biting humor, and there is violence. It ain’t always pretty. This is going to be one helluva series, and you want in from the beginning. November’s not as far away as you think it is, and you want to be in the know at the beginning."
— Seattle Mystery newsletter
"A blend of urban fantasy and noir mystery set during the Depression. Martingale Storm is a roguish crook, mostly reformed, who practices magic on a regular basis. He has to do that because vengeful ghosts wronged by his father and grandfather keep returning from the dead to hunt him down. But his life becomes even more complicated when a young girl with a strange mission enters his life, he is framed for a murder he didn’t commit, and he ultimately has to return to his native Louisiana in order to avoid some crooked cops and deal with some family issues. But home is not the refuge one might expect. The tone is actually fairly light as Storm has his various adventures, and the story unravels the system of hidden magic that exists in the background. The ending leads me to expect at least one sequel."
— Critical Mass
- ABOUT THE AUTHOR