Harlem Sunset

May 1, 2022
There's no rest for Harlem's Hero as another killer disrupts the high times of the Harlem Renaissance. Louise Lloyd is slow to recover after the trauma and notoriety stemming from a life-changing experience a year ago, when she shot a serial killer who prowled Harlem speak-easies and preyed on Black girls in Dead Dead Girls (2021). Now, in 1927, Louise settles back into the nightlife of the Harlem Renaissance. With her lover, Rosa Maria, at her side, she drinks and dances every evening at the Dove, a hot new club opened by Rosa Maria's twin brother, Rafael. But trouble seems to follow Harlem's Hero like a shadow. One morning, Louise wakes up at the Dove with little memory of the night before. Nearby are the sleeping Rosa Maria and Rafael and the corpse of Nora Davies, a young woman who reintroduced herself to Louise at the club only hours ago after they'd met briefly a decade before. Later, Louise finds the door of her apartment ajar, the word "GUILTY" written on one wall in red paint. Feeling compelled to find the killer, she turns reluctant sleuth again. Louise's investigation places her in mortal danger, strains her relationship with Rosa Maria, and ultimately becomes a journey of self-discovery. Afia's second Harlem Renaissance mystery continues the personal stories of her compelling cast and deepens her atmospheric depiction of the Jazz Age in Harlem. A vivid crime story and an engrossing depiction of an era.

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May 1, 2022
In this second Harlem Renaissance Mystery (following Dead Dead Girls, 2021), Louise "Lovie" Lloyd is still coming to grips with her kidnapping, her sister Celia's death, and the killing of the man responsible for it all. It is now 1927. Lovie is turning 27 and has found the perfect gig, managing a hot new club called the Dove, owned by her friend Rafael Moreno. Louise is in a romantic relationship with Rafael's sister, Rosa Maria. On the morning after Lovie's birthday celebration, a woman is lying dead in the middle of the Dove's dance floor. None of the party has any memory of the previous night. The police point the finger at Rosa Maria. At once brazen and riddled with self-doubt, Lovie, determined to clear Rosa Maria and solve the crime, comes under attack. Her apartment is vandalized, she's almost run over, and she receives scandalous photographs of herself, which are published in a newspaper. She triumphs and makes a decision that will change the course of her life. Lovie's fans will follow wherever she goes.

COPYRIGHT(2022) Booklist, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.