Cheryl A. Head

Meghan McKenzie is a young journalist for the Detroit Free Press primarily covering Black Lives Matter in 2019. The novel is narrated by two people, Meghan (2019) and Robert Lee Harrington (1929). In 1929 in Birmingham, Alabama, her great-grandfather Robert Lee Harrington, an exceptional carpenter, was killed at the age of 28. No one knows where or if he was buried or why he was killed. He was married to Anna Kate, a light-skinned woman, had one child Mae, and another on the way. He drove a Franklin Victoria, a flashy car, dressed very well, and had a short temper. Meghan travels to Birmingham to research police violence against Blacks traced back to the conditions in 1929 and ultimately to find out what happened to her great-grandfather. She finds allies in a goth-girl librarian named Kristen Gleason; a local Black Lives Matter leader, Monique Hendricks; and the mayor's office liaison to BLM, the handsome and charming Darius Curren. She first finds the murder of a corrupt police officer, Simenon, around the time of her great-grandfather's death. Her allies introduce her to people who had some connection to her great-grandfather.… (mer)

Beautifully written book about a young woman reporter determined to find the truth about her family.
Told in 2 timelines, 1929 and 2019.
In 1929, a master carpenter, Robert, and his wife, along with their daughter, moved to AL from FL. Sadly, Robert is targeted by the police and the Klan, and tragedy happens.
In 2019, Meghan, a journalist, wants to research about her great-grandfather (Robert) and his murder. She heads to Birmingham to write a story, and to research the murder. She stumbles upon help in unlikely sources, and also rips off the bandage hiding some tragic history.
I loved this book, it kept me interested and engaged, and I enjoyed Meghan's drive for the truth.… (mer)

This book a run-of-the-mill procedural featuring a private investigating firm made up of former federal agents. When a Mosque in Oakland County, Michigan is defaced, the family of a man killed in the bomb blast hires the Mack Agency to supplement the police in their search for the killer(s). Charlie Mack and her team does the legwork necessary to identify one of the perpetrators.

This is the 6th book in the Charlie Mack Motown mystery series and the author does little to introduce new readers to her series. None of the characters were developed in such a way as to give them personalities readers will fall in love with, perhaps the first book was where she did all that work, but she needed to at least help the new reader to her series want to read the 7th book and she failed to do that.

Head’s storyline had great potential, but it, like the characters, was never fully developed leaving the reader wondering when the story was going to take off and soar. There were problems with some of the events, i.e., when the bomb was detonated in an office in the Mosque, it was strong enough to blow the door out and kill a man, but not strong enough to destroy the interior of the office or do much damage to the office.

If you want a non-angsty summer read, this book may be what you’re looking for, but if you’re looking for a well-written, character driven book published by a LesFic publisher (with all that that usually entails), you’d best skip this book.

My thanks to NetGalley and Bywater Books for an eARC.… (mer)

Cheryl Head has not only created a dynamic and interesting lead character in Charlene "Charlie" Mack, but an equally interesting and dynamic mystery along with a terrific supporting and diverse cast of characters and one huge backdrop in the city of Detroit (and for this story, its sidekick, Birmingham).

Which is a really long way of saying, I liked this book. I love a mystery, populated with interesting thoughts and characters.. and this is a smart one. No old-school British drawing room here, but a rough and tumble all American big city story shouldered by an up-to-the-task, all American, lesbian, private eye.… (mer)