Title: A Death in Harlem
Description: "Renowned African American studies scholar Karla Holloway has been working on her first novel, "A Death in Harlem," for some years, as she blazed bright, consequential, and broad trails as a professor, dean, and administrator at Duke University. In this Harlem Renaissance mystery, Weldon Haynie Thomas is Harlem's first "colored" policeman, blessed with insight, humor, resourcefulness, and a deep intuition. (While Haynie is a fictional creation, the first African American policeman in NYC, Samuel Battle, also served during this time period, between 1911-1941.) "A Death in Harlem" improvises and extends the plot of Nella Larsen's "Passing" by asking "what happened after the fall?" Officer Thomas investigates the light-enough-to-pass woman who jumped? fell? was pushed? from the Hotel Theresa during the Opportunity Magazine Awards Banquet. While A Death in Harlem is lively and conversational, it's also informed by a deep knowledge of African American culture and history -- which support pointed critiques of the relationships between Harlem's Sugar Hill colored folk, and the regular folk uptown, for instance. Impeccably researched and confidently written, "A Death in Harlem" is a life's work -- an especially fun, stylish, and edifying read"--Provided by publisher.
Subjects: American literature, Fiction, African Americans, Social conditions, African American police, Homicide investigation, FICTION / African American / Mystery & Detective, FICTION / African American / Historical