Gumbo Justice »

Holli Castillo was born and raised in New Orleans, Louisiana. She attended public elementary school and graduated from an all-girl's Catholic High School. She was a gymnast throughout high school, and performed with her gymnastics team, Westbank Gymnastics, at the 1984 New Orleans World's Fair.

In 1990, she received a BA in Drama/Communications from the University of New Orleans. She earned her degree working nights at the now defunct Can Can Cabaret on Bourbon and Conti in the French Quarter, doing everything from Sound and Light technician to performing as a Can Can girl. She also stage managed and did technical work for many UNO Mainstage productions, and wrote and directed plays for UNO Lab productions.

After graduating from UNO, she attended Loyola Law School at night and worked full-time during the day at the Orleans Parish District Attorney's Office as a child support collector. After being hired, she was advised that the only reason she was called in to interview for the collection position was because the Hiring Assistant--a man-- wanted to see what a Can Can girl looked like.

In 1996, she received her JD, and immediately began working as a New Orleans prosecutor. She quit the D.A.'s Office when she had her first child, and is now an appellate public defender.

Her first novel, Gumbo Justice, was published by Oak Tree Press in June, 2009; the second in the Crescent City Mystery Series, Jambalaya Justice, is scheduled for release by Oak Tree late summe 2010.

New Orleans can be a dangerous place. Especially for a prosecutor.
Ryan Murphy is an assistant district attorney who likes her Tequila cold and her cops hot. With a mouth that doesn't know quite when to stop, her attitude plays well in front of a jury, but has a tendency to tick off judges, defendants, and other attorneys alike.
Battling demons from her past and checking her self-destructive streak take a back seat to her ambition, and she's not above skating the line just a little to get what she wants. It seems her hard work is just about to pay off.
If she snags a detective in the process, well, that's just a little lagniappe for her trouble. Life should be good.
Enter a demented psycho, with a plan to ruin Ryan's life before he ultimately kills her.
Set against the backdrop of pre-Katrina New Orleans, Gumbo Justice is the first in a series that follows the tumultuous life of prosecutor Ryan Murphy.

Review Blurb:

Holli Castillo has the pulse on law enforcement beyond the headlines in pre-Katrina New Orleans. Her background as a public defender lends her debut novel authenticity and a strong voice to prosecutor Ryan Murphy. Part police procedural, part legal drama, Castillo is a welcome addition to both genres.-Sunny Frazier, author of WHERE ANGELS FEAR and others in the Christy Bristol Mystery Series