Dead dead girls

In 1916, a Black teenager, Louise Lloyd, is abducted on her way home. She escapes, saving three other Black girls and earning the nickname "Harlem's Hero." Ten years later, she's still trying to live down that moniker, working in a Harlem café in the day and dancing the night away at a gay speakeasy, the Zodiac, in the West 50s. Her life changes when she finds a dead body outside the café, a third death attributed by the police to the "Girl Killer." The next night, as she and her friends leave the Zodiac, Louise sees the police roughing up another girl. She intervenes and, losing her temper, punches an officer. After Louise's arrest, the detective on the Girl Killer case offers to drop charges if she will help them investigate. Even as she has little choice, she doesn't know how dangerous a deal she has made until subsequent deaths bring the killer close. In this atmospheric debut mystery, with a sequel already planned, Afia ably tracks how Louise goes from reluctant hero to detective, infusing the transition with the spirit of the Harlem Renaissance.

Set in 1926 Harlem, Afia's atmospheric debut and series launch introduces Louise Lloyd, a 26-year-old Black waitress who lives for nights spent drinking and dancing. After Louise punches a white patrolman to prevent a racially motivated arrest, she fears she's facing a prison sentence. Then Det. Theodore Gilbert extends an offer: help him catch the serial killer preying upon neighborhood Black girls, and he'll expunge her record. Louise will have an easier time of extracting information from victims' loved ones than Gilbert--a white Brit--and he already knows her to be brave and resourceful, since Louise escaped a kidnapper and freed her fellow captives when she was a teenager. Louise immerses herself in the case, taking increasingly big risks to uncover the truth as the body count climbs. Readers will root for intrepid, fiery Louise, who elevates the mystery despite a disjointed investigation and haphazard denouement. The author couples tender relationships with strong senses of era and place. Afia has made an auspicious start. Agent: Travis Pennington, Knight Agency. (June)

DEBUT Louise Lovie Lloyd has spent the past 10 years escaping her memories by dancing and drinking her way through life in the various theaters and speakeasies of 1920s Harlem. Kidnapped at 16, then lauded in the newspapers as a hero for escaping and rescuing three other Black girls, Louise finds her daily routines abruptly halted when she discovers the body of a young Black nightclub dancer outside the café where she works. Later, while attempting to drink that sight away, an encounter with the police lands Louise in jail. Detective Gilbert offers to drop the charges if Louise will go unofficially undercover to help the police solve a string of nightclub murders. With her lover Rosa Maria Moreno and Rosa Maria's brother Rafael, Louise hits the nightclubs, determined to stop a serial killer. VERDICT Debut author Afia's historical series launch, while a little uneven in the writing and light on the suspense, is a character-driven mystery that will appeal to readers who enjoy Roaring Twenties mysteries such as Susanna Calkins's "Speakeasy Murders" series.--Joy Gunn, Paseo Verde Lib., Henderson, NV

During the Harlem Renaissance, a young Black woman searches for a serial killer and finds her adult identity in the process. In the winter of 1916, teenage Louise Lloyd is abducted from the streets of Harlem and thrown into a room with a handful of other girls. She lashes out at her captor and manages to escape, earning a bit of notoriety and the nickname Harlem's Hero. Ten years later, Louise frantically dances every night away at the Zodiac speak-easy while living in Miss Brown's boardinghouse and carrying on a secret romance with Rosa Maria Moreno, who rooms across the hall. Rosa Maria's twin brother, Rafael, the bartender at the Zodiac, gives Louise free drinks. One night, she drinks too much and gets into a scuffle with loutish Officer Martin but is spared incarceration by Theodore Gilbert, a detective who recognizes her as Harlem's Hero and enlists her help in finding a serial killer who's been preying on young Black women. Fired with a strong sense of mission, Louise strikes out in multiple directions, even investigating her own workplace, Maggie's Café. Though Louise considers her boss a surrogate mother, Maggie also runs a sleazy nightclub managed by her grandson, where Dora Hughes, the latest victim, worked. The mystery is slapdash, with a series of female victims and suspicion randomly ricocheting among multiple male characters. But Louise's fight for respect and dignity is depicted with infectious passion. A promising, if uneven, debut novel (and series kickoff) with a vibrant setting. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

In 1916, a Black teenager, Louise Lloyd, is abducted on her way home. She escapes, saving three other Black girls and earning the nickname "Harlem's Hero." Ten years later, she's still trying to live down that moniker, working in a Harlem café in the day and dancing the night away at a gay speakeasy, the Zodiac, in the West 50s. Her life changes when she finds a dead body outside the café, a third death attributed by the police to the "Girl Killer." The next night, as she and her friends leave the Zodiac, Louise sees the police roughing up another girl. She intervenes and, losing her temper, punches an officer. After Louise's arrest, the detective on the Girl Killer case offers to drop charges if she will help them investigate. Even as she has little choice, she doesn't know how dangerous a deal she has made until subsequent deaths bring the killer close. In this atmospheric debut mystery, with a sequel already planned, Afia ably tracks how Louise goes from reluctant hero to detective, infusing the transition with the spirit of the Harlem Renaissance. Copyright 2021 Booklist Reviews.

DEBUT Louise Lovie Lloyd has spent the past 10 years escaping her memories by dancing and drinking her way through life in the various theaters and speakeasies of 1920s Harlem. Kidnapped at 16, then lauded in the newspapers as a hero for escaping and rescuing three other Black girls, Louise finds her daily routines abruptly halted when she discovers the body of a young Black nightclub dancer outside the café where she works. Later, while attempting to drink that sight away, an encounter with the police lands Louise in jail. Detective Gilbert offers to drop the charges if Louise will go unofficially undercover to help the police solve a string of nightclub murders. With her lover Rosa Maria Moreno and Rosa Maria's brother Rafael, Louise hits the nightclubs, determined to stop a serial killer. VERDICT Debut author Afia's historical series launch, while a little uneven in the writing and light on the suspense, is a character-driven mystery that will appeal to readers who enjoy Roaring Twenties mysteries such as Susanna Calkins's "Speakeasy Murders" series.—Joy Gunn, Paseo Verde Lib., Henderson, NV

Set in 1926 Harlem, Afia's atmospheric debut and series launch introduces Louise Lloyd, a 26-year-old Black waitress who lives for nights spent drinking and dancing. After Louise punches a white patrolman to prevent a racially motivated arrest, she fears she's facing a prison sentence. Then Det. Theodore Gilbert extends an offer: help him catch the serial killer preying upon neighborhood Black girls, and he'll expunge her record. Louise will have an easier time of extracting information from victims' loved ones than Gilbert—a white Brit—and he already knows her to be brave and resourceful, since Louise escaped a kidnapper and freed her fellow captives when she was a teenager. Louise immerses herself in the case, taking increasingly big risks to uncover the truth as the body count climbs. Readers will root for intrepid, fiery Louise, who elevates the mystery despite a disjointed investigation and haphazard denouement. The author couples tender relationships with strong senses of era and place. Afia has made an auspicious start. Agent: Travis Pennington, Knight Agency. (June)