My name is Raven Burns. I used to live on the line between right and wrong. No one knew on which side of that line I’d jump— not even me. I thought I’d finally made the leap to the right, or the righteous side, as my former partner and homicide detective Billy Ray Chastain would say. I had decided on a sparkling California beach to leave my job as a homicide detective behind forever. After all, Billy Ray quit and swore he’d never go back. Why couldn’t I? Too much blood on that job. Not enough joy in my life. It did nothing but consume me, constantly reminding me of who my father was and what he forced me to do as a kid when I didn’t know any better. You see, my father was the white-fedora-wearing, peacock-feather-obsessed, fire-loving notorious serial killer Floyd Burns.

My mistake was thinking I could start life over by returning to my adopted home town of Byrd’s Landing, Louisiana. It was the place where Floyd had decided to settle, the place that grew serial killers like kudzu, where the heat stifled a body so you’d think the weather was a punishment from God for all the wrong you did.

Starting a new life in Byrd’s Landing did work for a while. I’d wake up in the morning for my job as a waitress in Billy Ray’s restaurant, Chastain’s Creole Heaven. Now that place has joy, uncontained, magnetic joy that drew everyone from the parish through its screen doors. Every night the whiskey flowed, Zydeco bands played, and Billy Ray’s steaming creole dishes lulled the entire of Byrd’s Landing into thinking that if things weren’t alright now, they would be soon. In the mornings I’d wake up around 5, go on a five-mile run, swing by the gym for some Jiu Jitsu lessons, and then drive to work to help Billy Ray get ready to flip the closed sign to open.

Billy Ray and I knew each other so well that speaking was completely unnecessary. We’d set the restaurant to rights, sweeping and swabbing the hardwood floors, putting chairs that customers had dragged to the stage back where they needed to go. Once in the kitchen, I played sous to Billy Ray’s chef while he sweated over wide pots of gumbo, the smells swelling the walls of the restaurant along with Buckwheat Zydeco blaring from the speakers.

But then my nephew was kidnapped, and I was once again reminded of who I was. I had to return to a police department who danced on that line between right and wrong harder than I did. I knew that the only chance of him being found was if I was on the job. I told myself it was temporary. When I found my nephew, I’d be back to chopping onions, and contemplating the future. But all hell broke loose. That’s when I found out how fate will always find you, no matter how many detours you take, how deeply you think you’re hiding.

A Killing Rain, A Raven Burns Mystery #2
Genre: Gothic
Release: June 2022
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Dark, Southern gothic tale of homicide detective Raven Burns, with a complicated past and a desperate case to solve.

After former homicide Raven Burns returns to Byrd’s Landing, Louisiana to begin a new life, she soon finds herself trapped by the old one when her nephew is kidnapped by a ruthless serial killer, and her foster brother becomes the main suspect. To make matters worse, she is being pursued by two men— one who wants to redeem her soul for the murder Raven felt she had no choice but to commit, and another who wants to lock her away forever.

About the author 
Faye Snowden is the author of dark, southern gothic mysteries with strong (and flawed) female leads. She has published short stories and poems in various literary journals, anthologies, and small presses including The African American Review. Her short story, “One Bullet. One Vote” was selected for inclusion in The Best American Mystery & Suspense 2021 edited by Alafair Burke and Steph Cha. Faye is a member of Sisters in Crime and serves as secretary for SinC National. Aside from her publications, she managed two boys, a husband, five dogs and three competitive writing fellowships over the years. Today, Faye works and writes from her home in Northern California.

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