A REVIEW OF MOSQUITO II: SOUTHERN VAMPIRES
with Elixirs, Potions, and Spells
Available on Amazon!
Crandle, Marita Woywod, Mosquito II: Southern Vampires, Pelican Publishing, New Orleans. 2025.
Maria Woywod Crandle is a talented, amazing and fascinating writer. She is an author of several books (listed below—I have read them all) , a successful marketer and a creator of businesses (businesses are listed below). I have read all of her books published by Arcadia/Pelican, but it wasn’t until I read her first novel about vampire, Mosquito: Southern Vampires—A New Orleans Penny Dreadful that I really became impressed and maybe even obsessed with her writing. I wrote a review of the first Mosquitor book on my blog. (The link to that review is included below). This review, as the title suggests, is part II of her vampire stories.
I’ve always been fascinated with vampires, ghosts, and witches, and I have read every book I could find about them, but these two books are a step above many of them. Crandle takes the reader, not only into the world and mind of vampires, but into the supernatural vampire world in the French Quarter of New Orleans. The dedication in Mosquitos II is fitting and relevant. It reads: This book is dedicated to all those who come to the French Quarter looking for adventure, mystery, and magic. (If you have an interest in vampires and the Casket Girls, in addition to Crandle’s two novels, you should also read her well researched New Orleans Vampires-Arcadia Publishing).
Mosquitos II on the Contents page has 26 Volumes listed. Each volume is actually a chapter with a descriptive title stated for the reader. The contents page is followed by a list of the Elixirs, Potions, and Spells that follow each chapter. Absolutely fascinating. Just like I wanted to try all the recipes of Chef Chris Dunn in Mosquitos I, I wanted to try the elixirs. If you read this book, you may desire to do the same. The artwork of the cover and the chapters was done by woodblock artist, Jame Mennitt, and the excellent pen & ink drawings scattered through the book were done by Taylor Chartrand, who Crandle describes as a “.very talented young artist.”
The characters are fully developed, but complex. As was true in Mosquitos: A New Orleans Penny Dreadful, not every character the reader meets will enjoy a happy ending. The novel takes the central character Jake (and the reader) through his struggles, betrayal, the dangers he faces, and his loss of control over his future and his love life. This is a fantastic vampire read that you will not forget!
Quotes from the Mosquitos II that I liked:
“Danger comes with the territory when you’re a vampire. Always a prisoner to the sun, to finding enough blood and to vampire hunters.” (p. 87).
“I have no control when it comes to vampires. I didn’t know how to explain it to you. Still don’t. (p. 112).
“No, this is serious. When they (a vampire) tell me what to dom what to thinkm there’s no escaping it.” (p. 116).
To see my first review of Mosquitos: Go to:
Review of Mosquito: Southern Vampires by Marita Woywod Crandle
https://bardofthesouth.com/review-of-mosquito-southern-vampires-by-marita-woywod-crandle/
Books by Marita Crandle about New Orleans, History Press, Arcadia:
Vampires of New Orleans
Johnny White’s Sports Bar: The Joint that Never Closed—Until It Did
Josie Arlington’s Storyville: The Life and Times of a New Orleans Madam
Marita Crandle’s New Orleans Businesses:
- Vampire Cafe: 801 Royal St.
- Boutique du Vampyre: 709 St. John Street
- The Vampire Apothecary: 725 St. Peter St.