"Marvelous job...diverse and credible people...magical evocation of New Orleans...would nominate for Best First Mystery.." Jeremiah Healy, award-winning author of 17 published crime novels and three collections of mystery short stories.

On her way to New Orleans, Lilah--a young widow--suffers more misery than she can stand when a man falls into her van. The man drops a suitcase that Lilah accidentally opens but doesn’t understand the contents. Curious, she heeds the advice of a graveyard psychic. The psychic gives her a crystal necklace and tells her to find a secret diary. In searching for the diary, Lilah gets intimate with a handsome musician and dangerously close to murder.

Fat Tuesday, February 15

St. Louis Cathedral, New Orleans

If you had seen me on that day you would have said I was a hyper child, not the mother of a teenager. I couldn’t sit still, much less find a comfortable position in an unforgiving church pew.

I was nervous about meeting the President of the United States, and the harder I tried to focus on the questions I wanted to ask, the more fidgety I became.

I don’t recall how many times I checked myself in the mirror and redid the hair pins on my French twist. I do remember thinking about how my life had changed since Martha--the cemetery psychic--gave me the crystal necklace.

What they're saying about Mardi Gravestone:

  "Once you start reading you can’t put this story down until you turn the last page. Sandy Semerad keeps you enthralled from the beginning to the end..." Beverley Bateman, author of FADE TO BLACK http://www.beverleybateman.com

  "From the French Quarter to the Garden District, from the St. Louis Cathedral to Charity Hospital,  from the private masked balls to Mardi Gras street parades, Sandy Semerad knows New Orleans. Mardi Gravestone leaves a taste as unforgettable as shrimp gumbo. Into her steaming caldron, Semerad throws her journalist protagonist, a jazz musician, a graveyard psychic, a crystal necklace, and a pinch of presidential/vice-presidential politics..." Dirk Wyle, author of AMAZON GOLD

"Mardi Gravestone is a romantic mystery set in New Orleans during Mardi Gras, and it was given to Book Sense as a recommended read.