The Complete Talba Wallis Series (Volumes 1–4)

by Philip Eliot | Sep 10, 2025 | Crime Fiction | 0 comments

MYSTERY FICTION’S MOST DYNAMIC DETECTIVE DUO–IN A BOXED SET!Now you can get the entire 4-book Talba Wallis series by Edgar-Award winning author Julie Smith (plus bonus short story) at an irresistible price. Talba, aka poetess Baroness de Pontalba, has the beauty, the brains, the computer savvy, the poetic soul, the youth, the right demographic, and the sass. Eddie Valentino’s got the detective agency. Also a short fuse and yes, wisdom. Not only do they make it work, they’ve got chemistry. “The quirky pleasure of watching the Baroness strut her stuff is worth the price of admission.” —Houston Chronicle Vol. 1: LOUISIANA HOTSHOTIn Louisiana Hotshot, their job is to hunt down a sociopath and pedophile who’s molested the fourteen-year-old daughter of their client, hangs out on the ragged edges of the rap and recording industries, and has more powerful allies than a Cabinet member. But both detectives have unfinished business from the past—in Eddie’s case, something he deeply regrets; in Talba’s, a personal mystery, one so frightening no one will help her investigate. But she knows she won’t sleep till she solves it—and the truth will change her forever. Vol. 2: LOUISIANA BIGSHOTThe hottest detective duo in New Orleans is going to need every skill and ounce of courage they can summon in this intricate tale of a decades-old conspiracy only now coming home to roost, with the murder of Talba’s friend Babalu Maya. Babalu is actually Clayton Robineau, daughter of the local banker in a small Louisiana town that bears her name, a town buried under the weight of its own malevolent past. As Talba and Eddie investigate, they find that something terrible happened to Clayton as a child, an injury—both pscyhic and physical–so bizarre, so shameful and damning that almost anyone in town would kill to cover it up. Vol. 3: LOUISIANA LAMENTOne stormy day Talba gets an emergency call from Janessa, the sister she barely knows, and arrives to find a body floating in a swimming pool—the mortal husk of Allyson Brown, known in New Orleans literary circles as the Girl Gatsby. Like Gatsby, Allyson was one of those mysterious rich people who move to town, give amazing parties, and seem made of moonbeams. Investigating, Talba finds the reality behind the Gatsby glamour. Allyson was a con artist who neglected her children, ignored her bills, and lied like a Ponzi schemer. But she wasn’t the only bad actor on the local literary scene. Fellow poet Rashad leads Talba a merry chase, leaving a trail of clues in the form of poetry, while novelists engage in fisticuffs, unseemly preening, and unforgivable arrogance. The Baroness discovers just how seamy, petty, and downright murderous her fellow literati can be.Vol. 4: P.I. ON A HOT TIN ROOFYOUR LAWYER NEEDS YOU TO BAIL HER OUT? ISN’T THAT KIND OF BACKWARDS? So thinks PI Talba Wallis, on her way to Parish Prison—and indeed something’s badly amiss. New Orleans’ most dynamic detective duo have a personal interest in this one—Eddie’s lawyer daughter Angie’s been set up for a drug bust. Talba embeds herself in the house of prominent Judge Buddy Champagne as a spy, and uncovers plenty of evidence the judge is dirty—but she doesn’t count on how involved she was going to get—especially with Buddy’s 14-year-old daughter Lucy. There are plenty of mysterious twists and turns on the way to an ending guaranteed to surprise—but the real joy here is in the relationships. BONUS Talba Wallis Mystery Short Story– KID TROMBONE!The Big Easy’s premier jazz singer, Queenie Feran, thinks there’s more to her ex-husband’s death than an accidental overdose, and she hires PI and poet Talba Wallis–AKA the Baroness de Pontalba–to uncover the truth.