Dying in the Dark : A Tamara Hayle Mystery

Rating:
Summary: Friendship and Death, Which comes first?
Review: After a four-year hiatus, Tamara Hayle is back. Who is Tamara Hayle? She is a single African American mom who left the police department and started her own private investigation firm. This New Jersey native is determined to make ends meet and save the world at the same time. 

Just like every other morning, Tamara is reading the newspaper when she notices a small blurb about the death of a high school friend, Celia Jones. Tamara's past flashes before her as she remembers their last encounter - a friendship broken by hurtful words and shattered promises. Saddened Tamara goes on with life until Celia invades her dreams and forces her to take note. Intrigued Tamara wants to know why and how did she die, Celia died. The story takes you on a trip loaded in secrecy and death at every turn.

So who did it? Celia's son, Cecil Jones, believes his mom was murdered and hires Tamara to find out by whom. As key people in Celia's life begin to inexplicably die, Tamara realizes the trail is red hot. The obvious suspects draw Tamara into the drama: the thuggish ex-husband, the fine car dealer ex-boyfriend and the jilted lesbian lover. Celia speaks from beyond by leaving notes in a recovered diary. The notes may lead Tamara to the killer, that is if she doesn't get killed first.

Reviewed by M. Bruner for Loose Leaves Book Review

Rating:
Summary: Good Read
Review: Again, another good read from Ms. Wesley. A great mystery story with chilling chapters. Ms. Tamara Hayle is back on track with attempting to solve the murder of an old friend. This old friend and Tamara grew up together and remained friends until something very immature broke up their friendship. Great story telling, I only wish that Tamara could find someone in her life to love, I was expecting "Basil" to return in this book, but to my surprise he didn't. Jake, Tamara old friend, is still dropping by Tamara house to visit with her and her son, but it appears perhaps Jake may have found someone special. In spite of Tamara love life, this is a good mystery story that all mystery lovers should enjoy.

Rating:
Summary: Tamara Strikes Again!
Review: Dying in the Dark is the seventh book in the Tamara Hayle series.
Tamara's past comes back to haunt her when her high school friend Celia Jones is murdered. Tamara becomes plagued with dreams of Celia. Celia Jones was a wild card.
Celia's teenaged son Cecil hires Tamara to find his mother's killer. Cecil is later found murdered, stabbed through the heart. As Tamara finds clues and starts putting the pieces of the puzzle together she finds herself walking in the past. The search for the killer isn't easy; Celia has an ex husband that is a thug. A handsome ex lover that tries to woo Tamara and a jealous and very angry woman who was also Celia's lover and then there is her angry and bitter husband. This was my first Tamara Hayle mystery and I'm hooked. Tamara is a tough woman with class and style. I liked that she wasn't made of money. She was just the average single mother worried about her son leaving her to go to college. Tamara is real. I never figured out the killer until Wesley was ready to give it to me. Wesley knows how to weave a tale full of suspense. I loved it!.
reviewed by:
Dawnny


Rating:
Summary: African-American Single Mom in Newark, NJ
Review: Private detective Tamara Hayle is: African-American, female, a single mom, and in Newark, New Jersey.

What a concept for a series detective character. And that it's successful there is no doubt, this is the seventh in the series. And it's been four years since Tamara lived in the last novel. As the author said, "It was time! Writing Dying in the Dark was like visiting an old friend who I haven't seen in a long time."

As a mystery, you know the story, a murder, then another, and good will triumph over evil. But with Tamara Hayle you get more than a mystery. You get a sense of life in a part of America not often seen in fiction. I remember attending a play in Newark, it was in a school, where the janitor's room was protected with razor wire.

If you are familiar with Tamara, go visit an old friend. If not, you're in for an eye-opening experience.

Rating:
Summary: Dying in the Dark
Review: Private Investigator Tamara Hayle is back in DYING IN THE DARK, the 7th book in Valerie Wilson Wesley's mystery series. With a back drop of Newark, New Jersey, we find our heroine contemplating life and her son's impending growing up and leaving the house. Tamara's past has resurfaced and firmly placed itself in her life. At first she's haunted at night by nightmares about her once best friend Celia Jones, who was murdered the previous year. Later, things come full circle when Celia's son Cecil visits her office requesting her services. Cecil is convinced that someone killed his mother and wants Tamara to take the case. She reluctantly agrees, and sets on a course to get to the bottom of things, not expecting anything major to go wrong.

Unfortunately, shortly thereafter, Cecil ends up dead also, someone breaks into Tamara's office and apartment, and she begins a wild chase to shed light on Celia's life in hopes of figuring out who killed her. Through her investigation, she learns more of Celia's sordid past and finds that the list of possible suspects grows with each interview she has. From the ex-husband, to the many men she was involved with, to her lesbian lover, it becomes quite clear that Celia has "friends" in high places, but could one of them be responsible for her death?

Running parallel with the investigative work is her relationship and interaction with her son Jamal who is growing up and will soon be headed out on his own in life. Once Cecil is killed, Tamara begins to think more about her son and his place in her life. The love shown between the two, especially with Tamara knowing how to let go and letting her son be a young adult, gave the story more depth as we were able to see another side of Tamara's character. When more tragic deaths occur, she's not sure if she'll be able to protect her son as she realizes the various paths available to him as a result of the issues he encounters in life.

Valerie Wilson Wesley has presented the reader with not only an interesting mystery, but in DYING IN THE DARK we're also able to see the issues that our African-American communities must contend. Some of these concerns include social class and status, racial injustices, crime, poverty and also the importance of family. Through finding the culprit, readers also uncover some truths about life as we know it.

Fans of the Tamara Hayle series will also be happy to read more about a heroine who is not only good at what she does, but tough and aggressive and at the same time, a single mom and handling her household. While the book did move a bit slow for me at times and the mystery was easy to figure out, Tamara Hayle is an intriguing character. Wesley did a wonderful job in the characterization and I closed the book with a feeling of saying goodbye to an old friend.

Reviewed by Tee C. Royal
of The RAWSISTAZ Reviewers

Author's Website: http://www.tamarahayle.com


Rating:
Summary: fabulous private investigative tale
Review: Tired of the sexism and racism of the Newark Police Department Tamara Hayle quits the force and opens up Hayle Investigative Service. Years later she might not have much money, but she relishes her independence and self reliance, which leaves her very contented.

One day, a gangster looking male introduces himself as Cecil Jones, the son of Tamara's "used to be best friend" Celia. He wants to hire her to find out who killed his mother because he believes that the mostly white police force is not going to bother to learn who murdered a promiscuous black woman. Tamara wants nothing to do with the case, but agrees because of the plea she sees in Cecil's eyes. He gives Tamara his mother's notebook and several other items that might prove useful and places four hundred dollars in cash on her desk before walking away. A week later, Tamara learns that someone murdered her client, but she continues her inquiries as she is determined to find out who killed Cecil and his mother. Tamara interviews people who knew Celia and realizes that she broke many hearts with one person enacting vengeance.

The protagonist refuses to allow any negative isms to stop her from living life her way especially doing her job; readers will admire her spunk. Cecilia grew up in poverty as an unwanted child with low esteem seeking someone to truly love her, but failed and eventually ended up in the wrong place. Readers see this sad picture through Tamara's flashbacks and muses about their childhood as best "sisters" and through her inquiries. Valerie Wilson Wesley provides a fabulous private investigative tale with a deep social and psychological underpinning.

Harriet Klausner