The Levee Syndicate

Book Four of The Ravenshaw Chronicles

Eighteenth-Century New Orleans and the Business of Fear

In 1728 New Orleans, Edmund Ravenshaw arrives sick, broke, and anonymous—then survives thanks to the disciplined mercy of the Ursuline sisters. Recovered but exposed, he takes work as a clerk and discovers the colony’s true power isn’t sugar or silver, but paper: ledgers, seals, manifests, and the rumors that travel faster than ships. With Celeste Arnaud—sharp-eyed, bilingual, and impossible to fool for long—Edmund learns the city’s hidden map of taverns, river routes, and quiet brokers who sell protection with a smile. As fear spreads through a strained frontier town—tightening authority, shortages, and old violence resurfacing—Edmund’s gift for order becomes both opportunity and danger. Rival merchants and watchful officers circle, and every favor arrives with a hook. In a place where faith and fraud share the same streets, Edmund must choose what he’s willing to become to survive.