In A Death in Harlem , famed scholar Karla FC Holloway weaves a mystery in the bon vivant world of the Harlem Renaissance. Taking as her point of departure the tantalizingly ambiguous "death by misadventure" at the climax of Nella Larsen's Passing , Holloway accompanies readers to the sunlit boulevards and shaded sidestreets of Jazz Age New York. A murder there will test the mettle, resourcefulness, and intuition of Harlem's first "colored" policeman, Weldon Haynie Thomas.
Clear glass towers rising in Manhattan belie a city where people are often not what they seem. For some here, identity is a performance of passing—passing for another race, for another class, for someone safe to trust. Thomas's investigation illuminates the societies and secret societies, the intricate code of manners, the world of letters, and the broad social currents of 1920s Harlem.
A Death in Harlem is an exquisitely crafted, briskly paced, and impeccably stylish journey back to a time still remembered as a peak of American glamour. It introduces Holloway as a fresh voice in storytelling, and Weldon Haynie Thomas as an endearing and unforgettable detective.

ia/deathinharlemnov0000holl.pdf

Karla F. C Holloway

Marlboro Press, The

Hydra Books

United States, United States of America

1, 2019-09-15

Sep 15, 2019

1, FR, 2019

Source title: A Death in Harlem: A Novel

x, 234 pages ; 23 cm
"Renowned African American studies scholar Karla Holloway has been working on her first novel, "A Death in Harlem," for some years, as she blazed bright, consequential, and broad trails as a professor, dean, and administrator at Duke University. In this Harlem Renaissance mystery, Weldon Haynie Thomas is Harlem's first "colored" policeman, blessed with insight, humor, resourcefulness, and a deep intuition. (While Haynie is a fictional creation, the first African American policeman in NYC, Samuel Battle, also served during this time period, between 1911-1941.) "A Death in Harlem" improvises and extends the plot of Nella Larsen's "Passing" by asking "what happened after the fall?" Officer Thomas investigates the light-enough-to-pass woman who jumped? fell? was pushed? from the Hotel Theresa during the Opportunity Magazine Awards Banquet. While A Death in Harlem is lively and conversational, it's also informed by a deep knowledge of African American culture and history -- which support pointed critiques of the relationships between Harlem's Sugar Hill colored folk, and the regular folk uptown, for instance. Impeccably researched and confidently written, "A Death in Harlem" is a life's work -- an especially fun, stylish, and edifying read"--Provided by publisher
1927. For some in Manhattan, identity is a performance of passing: for another race, for another class, for someone safe to trust. Officer Weldon Haynie Thomas, Harlem's first "colored" policeman, is called on the case when a light-enough-to-pass woman jumped (fell? was pushed?) from the Hotel Theresa during the Opportunity Magazine Awards Banquet. -- adapted from back cover
The fall -- Weldon Haynie Thomas -- Harlem night -- Bound north blues -- Political parties -- The Ninth Annual Opportunity Awards banquet -- Misadventure? -- The morning after -- Downtown-upper east -- Harlem, in between -- After the fall -- The thirtieth precinct-Harlem -- Rumor, gossip, and innuendo -- Indictment -- Obsequies -- Arrested -- The Omada -- Police court -- The brothers' law -- Waiting for Weldon -- Before the fall -- The Harlem Branch Library -- Passing -- Rooms with a view -- Cinnamon and salt -- Color struck -- Just spring -- Witness -- Keys -- Office visit -- Evidence -- Eyes on the prize -- The Palmer method -- Vermilion Parish -- Blood will out -- One too many -- Reshelving -- Without sanctuary -- Minding the gap -- The Omada collection -- Common ground

A Death in Harlem is a mystery set in the midst of the 1920s Harlem elite with a perplexing death at its center and Harlem's first colored policeman poised to uncover the the relationship between the help, the privileged members of secret and no-so-secret Negro clubs, and the enigmatic white man whose relationship to (and interests in) the Harlem hold is key to the mystery.

2023-06-28