New Orleans is a place where many people from all over the world go to party. And New Orleans welcomes these people with open arms -- and cash registers. No thousand-year flood, corrupt politicos, officials, police, et al, will stop this city from providing its visitors with les bonne temps roulez -- to a point. Enter Skip Langdon, police sergeant for the NOPD, a native and lover of New Orleans with all its flaws.

As longtime readers of Julie Smith's Skip Langdon books will attest, each book is written with the reader in mind, with great plots, subplots and recurring favorite characters, like Jimmy Dee, her former landlord and dear friend, and her lover, filmmaker Steve. Murder on Magazine is an enjoyable read about a serious subject: human sex trafficking.

Murder on Magazine begins with a description of how Magazine Street is the quintessential place to go to for the fulfillment of just about anything a local or a visitor might want or need whilst in the neighborhood. Hardly a utopian wonder a la Rodeo Drive, still, Magazine is the place one goes to spend the day doing things that one needs to do, get a nice meal and feel satisfied at the end of the day that one had seen and done what needed to be done and a nice time was had by all. Sadly, many of the residents in the surrounding area have been priced out by ubiquitous airbnbs -- readily available and oftentimes illegal. Thus, when a body is found in one of the area's airbnbs -- and the owner is gone, due to his running a yoga studio and being on retreat -- Skip gets the case, and much else besides.

One of the subplots mentioned is that of the bizarre case of a mutilated dog that miraculously survived the attack. The rescued dog, Sheba, had been attacked by a man that may be connected to this case. Skip posits the victim may have been part of a racist rant painted on the wall of the yoga studio cum airbnb where his body had been found. And since there is evidence of a hooker having been in the vicinity, Skip and her partner Abasolo delve deeper into the meaning of the item found, as well as other clues that lead them to a surprising character that may be a trafficked girl that is in terrible danger. As Skip shows in the previous settings in which we have found her, Murder on Magazine is full of her excellent intuition, slightly breaking the rules with her methods, and a fierce determination to see justice served and the innocent protected.

After a few years' absence, it is great to have Skip Langdon back in New Orleans and on the case.