For Love's Sake

For over a hundred years, New Orleanians have settled affairs of honor at Dueling Oaks in the City Park (formerly the Allard Plantation). In the early years, none dare refuse a challenge. It was the Code Duello. This changed after the city became American. In 1891, dueling is outlawed and a death there draws NOPD Det. Jacques Dugas to fog-shrouded oaks dripping Spanish moss. Dugas promptly arrests the winner of the latest duel for manslaughter. The subsequent post-mortem exam of the deceased turns the affair around as the man did not die as a result of the duel, but from arsenic poisoning. Aided by a pretty female journalist, Dugas must unravel this mystery to its surprising conclusion.
"For Love's Sake," originally appeared in Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine's July-August 2013 Issue, and was a finalist for the 2014 DERRINGER AWARD for BEST NOVELETTE. The DERRINGER AWARDS are given annually by the Short Mystery Fiction Society to recognize excellence in the short mystery fiction form.
NOPD Detective Jack Dugas has appeared in a dozen short stories published in top mystery magazines Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine and Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine and in numerous anthologies. A collection of ten Dugas stories was published by Big Kiss Productions in 2011 entitled NEW ORLEANS PRIME EVIL, which is available as a trade paperback and eBook.


Genre: Mystery