Our Black History celebration continues this week with mystery writers. This list includes everything from hard-boiled thrillers to cozy mysteries. Each of these books is available at Danville Public Library.
Down the River Unto the Sea by Walter Mosley
Ten years after serving time at Rikers Island for assault, Joe King Oliver, an ex-NYPD investigator working as a private detective, receives a note from a woman who admits she was paid to frame him, compelling him to find out who on the police force wanted him out. He also agrees to help a radical black journalist accused of killing two on-duty police officers who had been abusing their badges to traffic in drugs and prostitutes in the city’s poorest neighborhoods. The two cases intertwine, exposing a pattern of corruption and brutality wielded against black men, women, and children whose lives the law destroyed.
(Next month, Pages to Pictures is featuring Devil in a Blue Dress by Walter Mosley on March 16 at 1 p.m.)
Finding Gideon by Eric Jerome Dickey
As a hit man from the time he was very young, money, women, and danger have always ruled Gideon’s life; but for the first time, the job is taking its toll. Neither Gideon nor the city of Buenos Aires has recovered from the mayhem caused during Gideon’s last job. But before the dust has settled and the bodies have been buried, Gideon calls in backup–including the lovely Hawks, with whom Gideon has heated memories–to launch his biggest act of revenge yet– one he believes will destroy his adversary, Midnight, once and for all. Yet Midnight and his second-in-command, the beautiful and ruthless Señorita Raven, are launching their own revenge, assembling a team of mercenaries the likes of which the world has never seen.
Hollywood Homicide by Kellye Garrett
Dayna Anderson doesn’t set out to solve a murder. All the semi-famous, mega-broke actress wants is to help her parents keep their house. So after witnessing a deadly hit-and-run, she pursues the fifteen grand reward. But Dayna soon finds herself doing a full-on investigation, wanting more that just money; she wants justice for the victim.
 
 
Murder with Macaroni and Cheese by A.L. Herbert
When the organizing committee for her upcoming high school reunion desperately needs a caterer, Halia agrees to help out. Soon she’s serving up her signature macaroni and cheese and famous chicken wings to a host of appreciative ex-classmates. Some folks have blossomed since graduation. Others, like manipulative Raynell Rollins, currently married to a former football star, haven’t changed nearly enough. When Raynell is found dead the morning after the reunion, the roll call of possible suspects could fill the school gymnasium. Extra-marital affairs, mega-church scandals and sports secrets… Raynell had her perfectly manicured hand in a lot of sticky situations. With her cousin Wavonne’s bungling assistance–and a helping of unwelcome dating advice from her mother, Celia–Halia is on course to track down the killer, before she becomes the alumna most likely to meet an untimely end … — Provided by publisher.
The Parker Inheritance by Varian Johnson
Twelve-year-old Candice Miller is spending the summer in Lambert, South Carolina, in the old house that belonged to her grandmother, who died after being dismissed as city manager for having the city tennis courts dug up looking for buried treasure–but when she finds the letter that sent her grandmother on the treasure hunt, she finds herself caught up in the mystery and, with the help of her new friend and fellow book-worm, Brandon, she sets out to find the inheritance, exonerate her grandmother, and expose an injustice once committed against an African American family in Lambert.
 

Note: All images are from Google Images and all book descriptions are from the SHARE Catalog.