Heart of Evil

Donegal Plantation in the Louisiana bayou has always been known for its atmosphere — elegant dining, haunting legends, and a storied past. Now it has a fresh corpse swinging from its most prominent monument: a marble angel in the old cemetery, positioned almost exactly as the body of the family patriarch was found before the Civil War. Plantation heiress Ashley Donegal turns to the paranormal investigators known as the Krewe of Hunters, among them an old flame with gifts that extend well beyond the physical.

Luke Daniels narrates with a sure sense of Southern gothic atmosphere, blending the procedural and supernatural elements without allowing either to overwhelm the other. The Krewe series makes a virtue of its formula, and Daniels's performance keeps the romantic tension credible while delivering the horror with proper weight. At just over eight hours, it moves efficiently through a dense Southern mystery that rewards listeners who enjoy their crime fiction with a genuine chill.