4-STAR REVIEW: THE SWAMP GHOST by Christi Keating Sumich

About The Book

An Old New Orleans Bookshop Mystery: Book 1
Publication Date: September 22, 2026

AN OLD NEW ORLEANS BOOKSHOP MYSTERY

In 1833, Irish immigrants are hard at work digging the New Basin Canal, a waterway that will connect New Orleans to Lake Pontchartrain. When one of the workers sees a strange blue orb glowing in the swamp at night, he fears it is a Fifolet (fee-foo-lay) guarding Jean Lafitte’s buried treasure. Legend has it that pirates killed a crewman and buried his body with their loot, dooming his ghost to stand guard forever. The next morning, the worker is found dead. The men believe the site is cursed, and Aiden Doyle, the crew’s leader, must uncover the truth or risk losing his job. When the newly formed police force refuses to investigate, Aiden seeks help from Mary Catherine Whitney, now renowned throughout New Orleans for her mystery-solving skills after she and her husband, Tobias, unraveled the secrets of the notorious pirate Jean Lafitte and wrote a popular adventure story about it. She’ll need all her cleverness and wit to unlock the secrets of the Fifolet, and she may even need a little help from Lafitte himself.

Continuing characters from Lafitte Lives, The Swamp Ghost is the first in the Old New Orleans Bookshop Mysteries, featuring Mary Catherine Whitney, irascible wife, mother, and amateur sleuth in this charming series set in nineteenth-century New Orleans.

Excerpt

The Review

Deep in the mosquito-infested swampland of New Orleans, a strange flickering light draws a canal worker to his death.

Author Christi Keating Sumich delivers a second spooky mystery set in the early 1830s with The Swamp Ghost. This time, the legacy of Captain Jean Lafitte continues through folklore and fifolets, spirits left behind to guard a treasure.

Female sleuth Mary Catherine Whitney, who was introduced to readers in Lafitte Lives, can’t turn down a request for help. She is tasked with identifying the flickering light and dispelling supernatural fears.

Not only does Mary Catherine still possess a brave and determined personality, but she is intent on finding answers in spite of being in an advanced stage of pregnancy.

With her husband and an eclectic group of characters in tow, Mary Catherine sets out for answers. In the process, she manages to attract two additional mysteries serving as fodder for a new installment.

The Swamp Ghost delivers atmospheric suspense in a 19th-century mystery.

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About The Author

Christi Keating Sumich holds a PhD in History and a master’s degree in English. Her writing combines her fascination with history with her love of the mystery genre. She is the author of Lafitte Lives (Level Best Books, February 2026), a historical mystery centered on her ancestor, the notorious pirate Jean Lafitte. It is the prequel in the Old New Orleans Bookshop Mysteries, followed by The Swamp Ghost (Level Best Books, September 2026). She is also the author of the short story “The Night Doctor of New Orleans” in Crime Before Our Time (Level Best Books August 2026).

Christi’s nonfiction titles include Hauntingly Good Spirits: New Orleans Cocktails to Die For (Wellfleet Press, 2024) and The Brandy Milk Punch (Louisiana State University Press, 2025), both written with her mother, Sharon Keating.

Christi lives just outside New Orleans with her husband and too many pets, as she has a soft spot for “unconventionally attractive” animals in need of homes. She is the mother of three grown children (plus a daughter-in-law). Her claim to fame is being the winningest contestant on Hollywood Squares.