2013 Minnesota Book Award Nominee

Written With Renee Valois

When pop diva Sheila Lews dies under puzzling circumstances, Clarisse Dufresne is approached by agents of a shadowy international crime syndicate with a proposition–“What if, after a period of time, say five years–yeah, make it five years–it was discovered that Sheila had left behind some unmixed tracks, songs she had been working on before she died but didn’t release? What do you think a find like that would be worth?”

Clarisse refuses to participate in the fraud and is rescued by a mysterious man named Maurice Crevier, who conceals both his face and his intentions behind a black, obsidian mask. But the savior soon becomes Clarisse’s tormentor when she learns that she is not his guest as he professes, but his prisoner.

Despite it all–and against her better judgment–Clarisse feels a growing fascination and affection for her jailer, as well as his odd henchmen–a voodoo-practicing Haitian and a young chef who is haunted by the ghost of her mother. Until a second attempt is made on her life. And a third.

REVIEWS

2014 Best Twin Cities Arts and Culture Best Book Selection
-- Minnesota Monthly Magazine

"Here it is: my official declaration that THE DEVIL AND THE DIVA is the season's first "dock book," perfect for reading on a lazy day at the lake, on the cool porch or in a leafy back yard."
-- Mary Ann Grossman, St. Paul Pioneer Press

"If you want to understand why Minnesota is wonderful, if you want to know how in the hell people can stand it here when a dark winter night bottoms out at -40 (that's not wind chill), download a copy of the THE DEVIL AND THE DIVA by David Housewright and Renee Valois. You will understand. You will want to move here. Even if you already live here, you will want to move here... It's rich, it's lush, it's romantic, it's smart, it's funny. It's a mix of genres, a Beauty and the Beast tale. Mystery. Crime fiction. Intrigue. Gothic romance. Inside the pages we visit Minneapolis, St. Paul, Duluth, the North Shore, all in winter. Winter! A masked man. Dark wool capes that flow over deep snow. A house like a castle. A woman in a white gown holding a candelabra."
-- Anne Frasier, USA Today Bestselling author of Hush and Play Dead

"It's wonderful. I loved Clarisse - smart, witty and human. Maurice (the man in the black mask) was quite the romantic figure, yet still human, too, with those little foibles that make a girl want to smash him in his obsidian nose and then kiss him and make it better... The story was outrageous, and I totally bought into it. I was sorry when it ended."
-- Deborah Woodworth, author of Dancing Dead

Reviewer's Choice 2012 ("Definitely a buried treasure...")
-- All About Romance