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This page lists novels that feature the investigative reporter Talba Wallis.

82 Desire

Julie Smith

1998

A Skip Langdon novel. Talba Wallis also appears in this novel.

"Councilwoman Bebe Fortier has misplaced her equally prominent husband. Across town, part-time detective-poet Talba Wallis has a simple wish--to find out what Russell Fortier's disappearance has to do with her. But the private investigator who hired Talba to spy on Fortier can't help her out. He's lying in his office with a bullet in his chest. At first, Police Detective Skip Langdon thinks it's just a small case with some big names - until she senses something huge starting to unfold. Something rooted in corruption, resulting in violence - and motivated by that old demon . . . desire."

Louisiana Hotshot

Julie Smith

2001

A Talba Wallis novel.

"Confirmed grump Eddie Valentino placed the ad. Hotshot twenty-something Talba Wallis knew exactly how to answer it. And thus was born the dynamic duo of New Orleans private detectives, one cynical, sixty-five-year-old Luddite white dude with street smarts, and one young, bright-eyed, Twenty-First century African-American female poet, performance artist, mistress of disguise, and computer jock extraordinaire. Think Queen Latifah and Danny DeVito. In 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."

Louisiana Bigshot

Julie Smith

2002

A Talba Wallis novel.

"Talba Wallis and Eddie Valentino 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. Something terrible happened to Clayton as a child, but it was far from the usual 'something terrible'. As Talba and Eddie investigate, they find it was an injury—both pscyhic and physical--so bizarre, so shameful and damning that almost anyone in town would kill to cover it up. Or so it seems to the New Orleans duo as they dodge bullets and what passes for the law in this malignant enclave, fetid with the rot of its corruption, yet determined to keep its sordid skeletons buried."

Louisiana Lament

Julie Smith

2004

A Talba Wallis novel.

"One 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 rug. 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."

Murder... and All That Jazz

Editor: Robert J. Randisi

2004

This collection includes the Julie Smith story Kid Trombone which features Talba Wallis.

"Centering around the tempermental world of jazz, from New York City to New Orleans, a smooth, finger-snapping collection of mystery stories features contributions by Michael Connelly, Peter Robinson, Ed Gorman, Julie Smith, Robert Ferrigno, Laura Lippman, John Lutz, and Max Allan Collins, among others."

• The P&G Ivory Cut-Whiskey Massacree (Craig Holden)
• Chop Suey (John Lutz)
• Snake Rag (Martin Meyers)
• East Side, West Side (Maz Allan Collins And Matthew V.Clemens)
• Drummer Unknown (John Harvey)
• The Magic Of Your Touch (Peter Robinson)
• Child's Play (Bill Moody)
• Christmas Even (Michael Connelly)
• Jazz Canary (Les Roberts)
• Kid Trombone (Julie Smith)
• Muse (Ed Gorman)
• The Shoeshine Man's Regrets (Laura Lippman)
• The Listening Room (Robert J. Randisi)

P.I. On A Hot Tin Roof

Julie Smith

2005

A Talba Wallis novel.

"New Orleans’ most dynamic detective duo, poet/computer genius Talba and street-savvy Luddite Eddie Valentino, have a personal interest in this one - Eddie’s lawyer daughter Angie’s been set up for a drug bust. Prominent Judge Buddy Champagne’s the obvious perp and Talba’s so mad she embeds herself in his house as a spy - but she doesn't count on ending up with a family straight out of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof; nor did she realize how involved she was going to get - especially with Buddy’s 14-year-old daughter Lucy. It works, though, She uncovers plenty of evidence the judge is dirty. And then things get ugly: Somebody kills Buddy and Talba’s true identity comes to light. The Champagnes hate her at this point, but guess what? They hire her to solve the case."

Kid Trombone

Julie Smith

2014

A Talba Wallis short story published electronically. The story was originally published in 2004 in the anthology Murder … And All That Jazz.

"The troubled heir of a great New Orleans musical legacy has been gunned down. The writer who researched his obituary has met a sudden death. Coincidence? Or did he know too much? The Big Easy’s premier jazz singer, Queenie Feran, thinks there’s more to it than an accidental overdose, and she hires PI and poet Talba Wallis - AKA the Baroness de Pontalba - to uncover the truth. The Baroness rubs elbows with jazz royalty, sounding them out for clues and swaddling the reader in New Orleans ambience, before she takes to the mean streets to uncover the victim’s secret life."