Only Murder Books in the Building

This uptown caper from two-time Pulitzer Prize winning author Whitehead is an obvious choice, being set in 1960s Harlem and all. It follows Ray Carney as he tries to escape his heritage as a crook by supporting his family with selling reasonably priced used furniture on 125th street. Problem is it’s not quite enough to pay bills, or even keep his wife’s bougie parents from talking mess. To supplement, his cousin Freddie brings him side hustles…of the illegal variety. Freddie’s latest opportunity for Ray involves robbing the Hotel Therese, which is the nicest hotel in Harlem. That goes about as well as you’d expect, in this novel with a cast of characters that include everyone from gangsters to crooked cops and “pornographers.”

That S.M.G. reign just won’t let up. She manages to release interesting titles back-to-back and even in different genres! Similar to Harlem Shuffle, this is also a bit different from the author’s norm. This one is set in 1970s Mexico City, though. In it we find Maite, a secretary who, amidst the political upheaval of her city, seems to only live for the escapism that romance comics can provide (I feel you, girl). Maite suddenly finds herself trying to find out what happened to her beautiful and intriguing neighbor, Lenora, who went missing. As she’s looking for her, so is Elvis, an enforcer for a government backed anti-uprising team. He finds himself becoming more and more intrigued with Maite and the many things they have in common as he also tries to find out what happened to Lenora. Coming closer to unraveling the mystery of Lenora’s disappearance means surviving dangers, some of which come in the form of Russian spies and government agents intent on maintaining Lenora’s secret.

Side note, we actually see real-life examples of Maite’s desire for the happy endings that romance novels provide. This post by Trisha Brown shows how people read more romance during the pandemic.

Virgil is who victims of violent crimes go to on the Rosebud Indian Reservation in South Dakota when they are failed by the U.S. government, and the Tribal courts. He suddenly has to turn his efforts to his 14-year-old nephew, who becomes wrapped up in the heroin trade that’s blossoming on the reservation. Virgil and his ex set out to stop the influx of drugs and chase down leads all the way to Denver as new tribal initiatives are enacted and Virgil must grapple with his Native identity.

Book Club Bonus: All three books deal with people of color who display seemingly shady moral character. They are also part of a group of people on the other end of privilege. They are the descendants of people whose communities and cultures were ravished in order to carve out a space for a protected class, free from the mire that comes from being them, essentially. Discuss if it is fair to judge them based on the same set of rules that is applied to those from higher socioeconomic classes who had more opportunity. Or, does criminality not allow for gray area? Are the main characters ultimately unredeemable?