The Philadelphia Quarry
Nearly 28 years after a 17-year-old black youth, Richard Slade, is convicted of raping white 16-year-old Alicia Simpson, from a prominent Richmond, Virginia, family, Slade is freed on the basis of DNA evidence. But when his accuser, Alicia, is shot five days later, Slade, whose alibi is shaky, finds himself back in jail. Nearly down-and-out reporter Willie Black, who works the night-cops beat on his financially struggling newspaper, is ordered off the story when he questions the guilt of Slade (who, Willie has just learned, is his second cousin). But Willie has tracked some of his best stories when he disobeyed editors’ orders, so even the threat of losing his job doesn’t keep him from digging into what proves to be the dysfunctional Simpson family. Narrator Willie, who charmed readers in Oregon Hill (2012), is a hard-drinking, old-style newsman who still takes notes with pen and pad and takes his chances with the powers-that-be to get at the truth. A well-plotted mystery elevated above the norm by Owen’s mastery of character development and his creation of a compelling hero. --Michele Leber