Hello All,

If you have read my review of Sleep Don't Come Easy, you'll notice that I wondered where all of the AA detectives have gone. I started looking around and really, where are they? I would have thought with all of the shoot 'em books that the publishers swear we, the AA reading audience, can't seem to do without; I would have thought that there would have been a couple of detective supermen to go along with that. Are mysteries to hard to write, to hard to read, what is going on?

Hey Thumper,

That is a good question. I know there were a few "one hit" wonders. The Blackbird Papers - by the 5,000 lbs weight loss doctor - and another series by Chris Chambers set in DC a "two hit" wonder -- the protag -- Angela Bivens. I know there were series throughout the 1990s Gloria Mallett, Penny Mickelberry and others.

I have pooh-poohed the rise of ghetto/urban-lit as the undoing of good Black fiction - and the dearth of good mystery might be the first casuality in this battle. I have moved to historical fiction - and will remain there - but one could always use a good mystery -

Not sure if this answers the question or creates more -- peace

Soul Sister

Hey Soul Sister - Happy New Year! I'm not much of a mystery fan but I'd love to hear some of the historical fiction titles you have in your stack of goodies. I've recently been on a Chinese kick with Anchee Min: Becoming Madame Mao, Wild Ginger, Empress Orchid and The Last Empress.

Hello All,

Soul Sister: I hear you on the historical fiction tip. I've been in that bent for a long time and I don't see an end to that any time soon. But, I'm missing my detectives. Oh, well, maybe they'll show up soon.

Hip-hip-Hooray for Historical fiction lovers. I have completed Wench - just yesterday in a marathon read - since there was nothing on TV until NCIS-LA with LL Cool J. Don't hate - smile.

I LOVE Laura Rowland - she dropped her 13th installment in the Sano Ichiro series - a policeman/archivist turned chief investigator in 1500s Japan - INCREDIBLE. The beauty of her work is in the telling and the ability that all 13 books can be read independent of each other. I have on my shelf - Triangle by Katherine Webbber - its been there a while - about some "horrific" family secret learned about an ancestor in the Triangle Shirtwaist factory. Another - half-read work is the Pearl Diver by Jeff Talarigo about a leaper colony. Then I am toying with another title - Moses, the Monster and Miss Anne - non-fiction about the lives of three women in 19th century Maryland, Harriet Tubman, Patty Cannon and Anna Carroll. Respectively, about an enslaved woman, slave catcher/trader, and plantation mistress. Currently, I am cracking open the Private Papers of the Eastern Jewel - a fictional account of true person "Eastern Jewel," princess, spy and feminist.

Lastly, I came across this website and they have a great listing of forthcoming titles -- in historical fiction. Enjoy!

http://www.historicalnovelsociety.org/

This is great Soul Sister! I've read a couple of the Sano Ichiro books and enjoyed them. I didn't realize there were 13 of them - I'm way behind. Moses, the Monster and Miss Anne - what a title! And thanks for the historical novel society site. I'll be using it.

This is great Soul Sister! I've read a couple of the Sano Ichiro books and enjoyed them. I didn't realize there were 13 of them - I'm way behind. Moses, the Monster and Miss Anne - what a title! And thanks for the historical novel society site. I'll be using it.

For AA mysteries, try Kwei Quartay's Wife of the Gods. It's a wonderful mystery set in Africa and the lead detective is named Darko Dawson. Quartay's second Darko Dawson mystery - Children of the Streets - will be released in fall 2010.