A Dangerous Road

Rating:
Summary: Ditto
Review: (...)I just want to urge you to find "A Dangerous Road" and read it. You'll be convinced that Kris Nelscott has debuted with a winner. More than "just" a detective/mystery novel, Nelscott has given us real literature about a tragic and heroic figure. If you are tired of waiting for the next, long-overdue installment in Walter Mosley's Easy Rawlins series, this is the book that will distract you from your misery.

I'm lucky. I learned of Kris Nelscott and this book only recently, so when I finished I was ecstatic to learn that the second installment, "Smoke Filled Rooms" was out in hardback.

Let me give you a clue as to how much I enjoyed this book: After reading "A Dangerous Road" in paperback, I immediately ordered the hardback edition for my library and then ordered "Smoke Filled Rooms" in hardback, too. Most of you devoted readers will understand that such a gesture is high praise indeed. Now I have Smoky Dalton's continuing adventures in my bag, just waiting for the moment I open it and read that first sentence.

All I need now is a visit by Nelscott to a local book store so that I can have my already treasured copies of the product of her art autographed and given a place of honor next to Mr. Mosley's novels (in hardback).

Rating:
Summary: A Dangerous Road, An Excellent Book
Review: This book is one of the best novels I have read this year and has the well-deserved distinction of having been nominated for the Edgar Award for best mystery. The Bottoms by Joe R. Lansdale is good but I consider Ms. Nelscott's novel to be better.

Her main character is Smokey Dalton, a jack-of-all-trades who also finds work as a private investigator in Memphis, Tennessee. We learn that he was a former school classmate with Martin Luther King, Jr. and he is as happy as he can be living his life. Unfortunately, his world is about to be turned upside-down when he meets Laura Hathaway, who flew all the way from Chicago to look for him. It seems her mother left Smokey an inheritance for $10,000 and she wants to know why her mother willed him that money. He later discovers that Laura has a lot of questions regarding her mother and she hires Dalton to investigate. What Dalton discovers is a sinister connection with Ms. Hathaway that will change their lives forever.

The story takes place during the late sixties when Martin Luther King was active with the sanitation strikes occurring in the South. Dalton experiences prejudice, hatred, violence and turmoil throughout the entire book which in the end will only make him stronger.

Ms. Nelscott does an excellent job in developing this character that keeps the reader entranced to the plot. There is also a story of a little boy whose mother abandoned him and his brother is contributing to his possible delinquency by involving him as a drug courier and making him cut school. Dalton does his best to try to save this boy.

There is so much I would like to say about this book, but it is better if you read it and make up your own minds. You will be glad you did. I am also looking forward to reading Smokey Dalton's next book SMOKE-FILLED ROOMS which is now available.

Rating:
Summary: It's Smokey In Memphis
Review: This mystery introduces us to Smokey Dalton, a black private investigator living in troubled Memphis in 1968. Due to the colour of Smokey's skin and the period this is set, the racial issues dealt with are bordering on explosive. This is a remarkable work of fiction that integrates a factual event, that being the days leading up to the assassination of Martin Luther King, jr. It captures the tensions of the day with remarkable clarity and gives us an insight into how the black community of Memphis may have been affected.

The actual mystery part of the story involves a white woman, Laura Hathaway, who walks into Smokey's office one day, demanding to know why her mother would leave Smokey a bequest of $10,000 in her will. Although Smokey doesn't know her or her mother, he has always wondered about a mysterious benefactor who anonymously donated the same amount of money to him ten years ago. Laura decides to hire Smokey to find out about her family background, what secrets they were hiding and how he is involved in it. The results are shocking for the two of them.

This is a private investigator story with a difference; thanks to the time it is set and the fact that the protagonist is black. These two unique factors presents hurdles not faced by the majority of private investigators we read about these days. It's a powerful debut novel that has introduced us to a particularly likable, ethical character. Nelscott told us a great deal about the background of Smokey Dalton, making us sympathetic to his feelings and reactions, yet when I finished the book, I felt as though I wanted to learn more.