By Josh Mitchell/Informer Publisher

A Columbia novelist has just had her second book, “A Whisper on the Bayou,” published.

Author Brandi Perry’s new novel is set in South Louisiana and is a “high school drama with a bad twist,” she said. The plot deals with a schizophrenic high school senior who kills another student in a fit of jealousy, said Perry in an interview with the Marion County Informer at the Second Street Bean coffee shop in Columbia this afternoon.

The killer, Melanie Prejean, cannot distinguish between reality and fiction and is haunted by the murder victim, Isabelle Russo. Perry said she would like to see the novel turned into a movie.

Perry set the book in the fictional Cajun town of Channing Bayou, saying South Louisiana is a “mysterious” locale with unique food, music and language. Places in the 214-page psychological thriller are inspired by real locations, such as a restaurant Perry once dined at in Houma, La. She conducted research into Louisiana law for the novel by consulting friends who used to be attorneys, she said.

The book’s publisher, Publish America of Baltimore, Md., has said “Whispers on the Bayou” could be one of the top 10 books of the fall, said Perry, adding she has a seven-year contract with the company.

This is Perry’s second novel, having released “Wayward Justice” last November. “Wayward Justice,” Perry said, is a story about government corruption and a district attorney who must get a “capital murder conviction to be ushered into the state Attorney General’s Office seat,” Perry said.

Perry said she thinks “A Whisper on the Bayou” is a better book than “Wayward Justice,” saying, “I grew up a lot after writing the first one. I don’t think I can be considered an amateur writer anymore.”

The new book has more detail and people who read it should feel like they are “right there” in the action, she said.

Perry started writing seriously after undergoing emergency brain surgery in April 2009. She was homebound and unable to use her legs so she started writing “Wayward Justice” as “therapy,” she said. Perry believes the brain surgery was the Lord’s way of opening the door for her to be a novelist.

Prior to the surgery she only wrote poetry and short stories, and now she has ideas for 25 more novels and 125 children books and she would like to write about historical events in Marion County.

On days when she does not feel like writing, Perry commits time to her T-shirt company, For a Rainy Day. The shirts have inspirational sayings and are sold in boutiques in the Southeast, she said.

Perry is a Marion County native, 1998 graduate of Columbia High School and 2003 graduate of the University of Southern Mississippi where she earned degrees in coaching and sports administration, history and English and a minor in political science.

She is happy to call Marion County home, saying she enjoys going to Wal-Mart and seeing people she knows and watching sunsets and sunrises on the Pearl River. Perry is now working on her third novel, which is a love story titled “Best Seat in the House.”

Second Street Bean is hosting a book release party for “A Whisper on the Bayou” Aug. 19 from 6-7:30 p.m. In the meantime, anyone who wants a copy of the book can call Perry at (601) 731-0022 or e-mail her at writerbrandiperry@yahoo.com.