Celebrating Mysteries: Words Matter

There is a week-long holiday at the end of December that celebrates African heritage and culture, and I decided to use that to spotlight crime fiction authors who have African-American characters.

As is normal for this weekly feature, I'm finding myself adding books to my wishlist. Ah well. I never did want to run out of books to read anyway!

Join me as I pay some well-deserved attention to this week's three authors!

Frankie Y. Bailey

Frankie Y. Bailey grew up in Virginia, and her career as a writer didn't begin until after she'd attended Virginia Tech. While serving in the Army as a food inspector, Frankie wrote a couple of books that took up permanent residence in a desk drawer, but once she joined a writing group, she began to work seriously towards getting published.

Bailey has written four books in a mystery series set in Kentucky and Virginia featuring Professor Lizzie Stuart, a thirty-something African-American crime historian. The books in the series are: Death's Favorite Child (2000), A Dead Man's Honor (2001), Old Murders (2003) and You Should Have Died on Monday (2007).

Here's a brief synopsis of the first book in the series, Death's Favorite Child:

African-American, 38, a crime historian, Lizzie Stuart has spent most of her life in Drucilla, Kentucky. When her grandmother dies, Lizzie decides it is time for a vacation. She joins her friend Tess for a week in Cornwall, England, in the resort town of St. Regis. Lizzie finds her vacation anything but restful when she becomes an eyewitness to a murder and the probable next victim.

Julie Smith

Julie Smith lives in New Orleans, Louisiana, and is a former reporter for the New Orleans Times-Picayune and the San Francisco Chronicle. She is a licensed private investigator and has written over 20 mysteries.

The mysteries I'd like to focus on feature a black poet and computer expert living in New Orleans. Named Talba Wallis, she has an interesting alias: the Baroness de Pontalba. There are four books in this series: Louisiana Hotshot (2001), Louisiana Bigshot (2002), Louisiana Lament (2004), and P.I. on a Hot Tin Roof (2005).

Here's what Publishers Weekly had to say about Lousiana Hotshot:

Following the success of 82 Desire (1998), which introduced Talba Wallis (aka Baroness de Pontalba), the black poet/computer expert and would-be investigator returns to undertake another harrowing adventure in New Orleans. Talba is a seething mass of contradictions assured and vulnerable, flip and sentimental, cocky and fearful. Answering an unlikely ad with her customary bravado lands her a job as assistant to aging PI Eddie Valentino. The young black female and 65-year-old Italian male have striking similarities that offset their obvious differences. Both are stubborn and strongly attached to, if somewhat alienated from, their families. Throw in a vulnerable young girl, Cassandra, being preyed on by a rap star's hanger-on identified only by the nickname "Toes," and you have a story that spans generations, races and lifestyles. As Talba and Eddie struggle to establish a working relationship and, similarly, struggle to resolve troublesome family relationships, the plight of their newest client worsens. Identifying Toes and stopping him before he eliminates Cassandra (or nosy detectives like themselves) becomes first priority. Smith generates plenty of tension as the savvy veteran and the eager novice combine their talents. But it is Smith's evocation of her beloved New Orleans and her deft exploration of her characters' intimate relationships that will lure readers to this series.

Karen Grigsby Bates

 Karen Grigsby Bates is the Los Angeles-based correspondent for NPR News. Before coming to NPR, Bates was a news reporter for People magazine. She was a contributing columnist to the Op Ed pages of the Los Angeles Times for ten years. Her work has appeared in Time, The New York Times, the Washington Post, Essence and Vogue. And she's been a guest on several news shows such as ABC's Nightline and the CBS Evening News.

She's also written two mysteries featuring Alex (Alexa) Powell, an African-American newspaper columnist in Los Angeles, California. The books are Plain Brown Wrapper (2001) and Chosen People (2006).

Here's a brief synopsis of Plain Brown Wrapper:

Who killed Ev and why? The three most likely suspects are Ev's competitors -- publishers of the country's other popular black magazines who all had plenty of good reasons to make sure Ev never received his Journalist of the Year award.

With the help of Paul Butler, a fellow journalist and an old friend, Alex tries to untangle the circumstances that led to Ev Carson's death. Their investigative trail will carry them from the West Coast to the East, to D.C., New York, and the social whirl of Martha's Vineyard as the summer season reaches its peak. In the middle of dissed colleagues, dumped girlfriends, disgruntled ex-employees, and the legions of enemies Ev managed to accumulate before he died, Alex Powell realizes that before everything is over Everett Carson might not be the only person who ends up with a toe tag.

Once again I find myself adding books to my to-be-read shelves, and I hope I've at least added a title or two to your wishlists. Join me next weekend when I'll continue my month-long celebration of Kwanzaa by featuring three more mystery writers whose series are centered on African-American characters!

Celebrating Mysteries: In the Courts of Law

This month, I'm celebrating Jewish Heritage Month by featuring Jewish crime fiction. The books have either been written by Jewish authors, they have Jewish characters, or they're set in places like Israel. This week, I'm focusing on the courts of law with two Jewish lawyers and a probate court official, and I certainly hope you find a book or two in this post that you just have to read. Let's get started, shall we?

Michael A. Kahn

Michael A. Kahn is a trial lawyer in St. Louis, Missouri. He's written a series of seven books featuring lawyer Rachel Gold who practices first in Chicago, Illinois, and then in St. Louis, Missouri.

Grave Designs APA The Canaan Legacy (1992), Death Benefits (1992), Firm Ambitions (1995), Due Diligence (1995), Sheer Gall (1996), Bearing Witness (2000), and Trophy Widow (2002).

Asked to perform a favor for a former boss who now heads the staid law firm of Abbott and Windsor, Chicago attorney Rachel Gold must determine why one of the firm's clients left a bizarre codicil in his will in Grave Designs.

The entire series has been described as one that has a strong female lead, is loaded with authentic material, and has genuinely intriguing mysteries to solve. Sounds like just our cups of tea, don't they?

Ona Russell

Author Ona Russell is a teacher at the college and university levels who's created a series featuring Sarah Kaufman, a Jewish probate court official in 1920s Toledo, Ohio, who later visits Dayton, Tennessee.

So far there are two books in the series: O'Brien's Desk (2004) and The Natural Selection (2008). Russell is currently working on the third.

Here's a description of the first book in the series, O'Brien's Desk:

The year is 1923, and one of Ohio's most prominent judges, O'Brien O'Donnell, fathers his first and only child. Though a joyous occasion for the recently married fifty-nine year old, the birth sets off a terrifying chain of events, beginning with blackmail and the judge's near-fatal breakdown. His only hope for recovery lies with his trusted friend and colleague, Sarah Kaufman. As Sarah begins to unravel the clues surrounding O'Brien s collapse, she is repeatedly confronted with the explosively paradoxical forces that defined life in the twenties: sexual promiscuity and self-righteous morality, Progressive reform and political corruption, racial tolerance and institutionalized bigotry. It was O'Brien s unique ability to strike a compromise between these forces that made him so popular...and, she realizes, so vulnerable to attack. And soon enough, Sarah, too, becomes a victim, a target of the blackmailer's hatred and revenge. But with the help of a story-hungry reporter to whom she becomes ambivalently attached, the unconventional Jewess sets out to free the judge and herself from their common enemy. How? The answer lurks within the hidden recesses of...O'Brien s desk. Based on true events, this suspenseful novel possesses a unique authenticity. With actual newspaper articles about the real O'Brien O'Donnell beginning each chapter, the story invites readers to solve the mystery along with the protagonist, piecing together a decades-traversing narrative, clip by clip. 

Sounds like a fascinating blend of history and story, doesn't it? I know it's going on my wish list!

Julie Smith

Julie Smith is probably better known for her mystery series starring Skip Langdon, a policewoman in New Orleans, Louisiana, but she's also written one featuring Rebecca Schwartz, a Jewish feminist lawyer in San Francisco, California.

Smith, a former reporter in both New Orleans and San Francisco lives in New Orleans where she's recently become a licensed private investigator.

The books in the Rebecca Schwartz series are: Death Turns a Trick (1982), The Sourdough Wars (1984), Tourist Trap (1986), Dead in the Water (1991) and Other People's Skeletons (1993).

A description of Death Turns a Trick says:

Rebecca Schwartz is a fairly normal Bay-area attorney. But when she almost gets busted for playing piano in a bordello, and Kandi, a part-time student-prostitute is killed in her home, and then the killer stalks Rebecca, it's time to take action--which is just what she does....

The book features tight writing, skill in building suspense, and is an unpretentious, fast-paced, fun read. Just what the crime fiction doc ordered, eh?

I hope you enjoyed the journey through the courts of law, courtesy of Celebrating Mysteries. Which books did you add to your own wish lists?

Join me next week when Jewish Heritage Month concludes with The Pros-- when I'll feature a few of the best cops, private eyes, and secret agents in the crime fiction business!