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Book Crimes and Impunity in New Orleans by
Sherrie Miranda
"Crimes and Impunity in New Orleans" is author Sherrie Miranda’s prequel to her page-turner, debut thriller, "Secrets and Lies in El Salvador". Shelly Dalton Smith is a naïve, twenty-three-year-old from Upstate New York who moves to New Orleans to prepare for a photo project in war-torn El Salvador. Shelly arrives in New Orleans, broken and traumatized and therefore unable to trust her own instincts. New Orleans represents the fresh start Shelly needs, but she soon finds that almost everyone in New Orleans harbors a secret. She’s unprepared for life in “The Big Easy,” and her world is turned upside down as she navigates “the city that
care forgot.” With fast-paced chapters and beautifully detailed conversations and descriptions, we see New Orleans through Shelly’s innocent eyes as she realizes the sheltered life she had lived was a lie. She experiences sexism and witnesses racism, police brutality, FBI visits, death threats, and two people’s captivity by her former boss. Through her misadventures and exciting plot twists, Shelly focuses on fighting injustice, ultimately finding her authentic voice as an empowered adult. When she finally leaves New Orleans, she is forever changed. The novel is a wild ride through the underbelly of 1980s New Orleans and is filled with quirky characters, sinister abusers, and thrilling secrets and revelations.