Norman German

Cripple Bayou Two-Step Norman German

Set in Louisiana bayou country, this genre-stretching noir romantic-comedy murder mystery stars Shreve West, a one-handed, politically incorrect private eye. Filled with strange characters and atmospheric scenes, Cripple Bayou Two-Step's tense plot balances a murder investigation with Shreve's train-wreck love life: exhuming a corpse in a graveyard, feeding and fending off alligators with lost love Pixie, whose crippling disease adds depth to the novel's controlling metaphor, paying a dangerous undercover call on Sweet Emma's "house," and fighting a giant redfish when Shreve's bumbling partner suddenly reminds him he's forgotten to pick up Bonnie, Shreve's Goth lover who has discovered his rekindled flame for high-school sweetheart Pixie. Calling-card clues connected to Edgar Allan Poe, planted by the taunting murderer, provide the scaffolding for this bizarre tale of the Deep South's dark side.