One-Shot Harry by Gary Phillips

 

A quick little very-genre mystery, set (mostly) in the Black neighborhoods of Los Angelis in 1963, with lots of racial tension in the air and full-throated racism still being much more socially acceptable than the present. It's clear that Phillips knows the area and the history, and it's clear he wants you to know--there are parts of the novel that feel like a history lesson or four. The main narrative voice is almost clunky, almost affectedly bland, there's not a lot of grace to it, it feels at times almost as though the text is summarizing the events of the novel; the teachings on history and social things come almost as fast and furious as the narrative elements. The story takes a few turns, ends up in a very noirish place, where the best the hero can manage is for the powers that be to leave him alone. It's not exactly a superb book, but it wasn't a waste of my evening, it wasn't ever so bad I considered DNFing it.