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Harlem Renaissance Mystery #1
Dead Dead Girls
Harlem, 1926. Young Black women like Louise Lloyd are ending up dead.
Following a harrowing kidnapping ordeal when she was in her teens, Louise is doing everything she can to maintain a normal life. She’s succeeding, too. She spends her days working at Maggie’s Café and her nights at the Zodiac, Harlem’s hottest speakeasy. Louise’s friends, especially her girlfriend, Rosa Maria Moreno, might say she’s running from her past and the notoriety that still stalks her, but don’t tell her that.
When a girl turns up dead in front of the café, Louise is forced to confront something she’s been trying to ignore—two other local Black girls have been murdered in the past few weeks. After an altercation with a police officer gets her arrested, Louise is given an ultimatum: She can either help solve the case or wind up in a jail cell. Louise has no choice but to investigate and soon finds herself toe-to-toe with a murderous mastermind hell-bent on taking more lives, maybe even her own....
Following a harrowing kidnapping ordeal when she was in her teens, Louise is doing everything she can to maintain a normal life. She’s succeeding, too. She spends her days working at Maggie’s Café and her nights at the Zodiac, Harlem’s hottest speakeasy. Louise’s friends, especially her girlfriend, Rosa Maria Moreno, might say she’s running from her past and the notoriety that still stalks her, but don’t tell her that.
When a girl turns up dead in front of the café, Louise is forced to confront something she’s been trying to ignore—two other local Black girls have been murdered in the past few weeks. After an altercation with a police officer gets her arrested, Louise is given an ultimatum: She can either help solve the case or wind up in a jail cell. Louise has no choice but to investigate and soon finds herself toe-to-toe with a murderous mastermind hell-bent on taking more lives, maybe even her own....
317 pages, Paperback
First published June 1, 2021
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 1,153 reviews
March 18, 2022
Hooray! Look at this fantastic cover and tempting, mesmerizing atmosphere of 20’s Harlem: speakeasies, illegal booze, the beautiful women in shiny, gorgeous dresses dancing till the morning and dangerous killer out there to hunt the working black girls of the neighborhood! Aren’t you intrigued yet? I’m already sold!
Louise Lloyd is hero of Harlem who fought against her kidnappers when she was only 15 and saved three other girls’ lives with her. She is adamant not to be a prey or a victim anymore at young age. She also resists the plans of her preacher, rigid, disciplined father who forces her to a marriage, leaving her house in early twenties to become a dancer but the competition was tough and as a young black girl it was more compelling to find your place in that ruthless world where being woman is already worthless and if you add the race to the equation, she is already doomed to fail.
She plans to live in a group home temporarily, finding daytime job at a cafe as a waitress. But she falls in love with her roommate Rosa Maria. So she stops looking for another life, surrendering to her circumstances, hanging out at the Zodiac club at nighttime, drinking like a sponge, dancing till her feet bleed, smoking cigarettes like chimney as she continues her daytime job at Maggie’s coffee with less sleep and lack of energy. It’s some kind of self destructive life style she chose for her continues till she hits 26, tenth anniversary of her kidnapping.
Her life suddenly changes as she finds dead black girl’s body who is only sixteen lies in front of her workplace and meets with officer Gilbert to testify. At the same night, she gets arrested as she tries to save a young girl from police officer’s assault. She slaps the guy, sitting at the jail to wait for how long she’ll be sentenced.
But officer Gilbert offers her to work undercover for the police investigation to solve the dead girls’ case. She can befriend the girls and get more useful information from them. She’ll help or she’ll find herself at jail. She doesn’t have any chance to say no. She cooperates and find herself to catch a dangerous killer to reconcile the traumatic event she’s endured ten years ago.
Overall: I loved Louise’s characterization from the beginning and I enjoyed the execution of the mystery.
The twists are well developed and the ending was phenomenal. Only thing bothered me was choppy, abrupt chapter endings. I think they need a little editorial work but instead of that, I enjoyed my ride! It was epic historical thriller earned my four speakeasy, dancing till the dawn, intriguing, heart throbbing stars!
Special thanks to NetGalley and Berkley Publishing for sharing this amazing digital reviewer copy with me in exchange my honest opinions.
Louise Lloyd is hero of Harlem who fought against her kidnappers when she was only 15 and saved three other girls’ lives with her. She is adamant not to be a prey or a victim anymore at young age. She also resists the plans of her preacher, rigid, disciplined father who forces her to a marriage, leaving her house in early twenties to become a dancer but the competition was tough and as a young black girl it was more compelling to find your place in that ruthless world where being woman is already worthless and if you add the race to the equation, she is already doomed to fail.
She plans to live in a group home temporarily, finding daytime job at a cafe as a waitress. But she falls in love with her roommate Rosa Maria. So she stops looking for another life, surrendering to her circumstances, hanging out at the Zodiac club at nighttime, drinking like a sponge, dancing till her feet bleed, smoking cigarettes like chimney as she continues her daytime job at Maggie’s coffee with less sleep and lack of energy. It’s some kind of self destructive life style she chose for her continues till she hits 26, tenth anniversary of her kidnapping.
Her life suddenly changes as she finds dead black girl’s body who is only sixteen lies in front of her workplace and meets with officer Gilbert to testify. At the same night, she gets arrested as she tries to save a young girl from police officer’s assault. She slaps the guy, sitting at the jail to wait for how long she’ll be sentenced.
But officer Gilbert offers her to work undercover for the police investigation to solve the dead girls’ case. She can befriend the girls and get more useful information from them. She’ll help or she’ll find herself at jail. She doesn’t have any chance to say no. She cooperates and find herself to catch a dangerous killer to reconcile the traumatic event she’s endured ten years ago.
Overall: I loved Louise’s characterization from the beginning and I enjoyed the execution of the mystery.
The twists are well developed and the ending was phenomenal. Only thing bothered me was choppy, abrupt chapter endings. I think they need a little editorial work but instead of that, I enjoyed my ride! It was epic historical thriller earned my four speakeasy, dancing till the dawn, intriguing, heart throbbing stars!
Special thanks to NetGalley and Berkley Publishing for sharing this amazing digital reviewer copy with me in exchange my honest opinions.
May 31, 2021
Read the full review over at The Litt Librarian! https://thelittlibrarian.wixsite.com/...
I had DDG sitting in my virtual TBR list for a couple of months now, so I hope that this is the super early advance reader's copy that I received, because honey…
I had two major issues with the book: How it was written and how the story panned out. The story itself wasn't bad. It has all the dressings to make a good gumbo. I simply think it needs another revision. The pacing was good, but the flow of the story is very choppy. Afia tried to create an air of suspense, but it came off lazy.
The opening of the story started strong and clear. It introduces a young girl who experienced first-hand kidnapping and fast-forwarded that same girl's life ten years later. After her run-in with the police from a night of partying, the story started to fall flat for me. Where I considered DNFing, reached from the stupidity of the main character's thinking. To put it, that girl sucks at being a detective. All her moves were predictable and careless, and she had way too many feelings she couldn't explain but acted on impulse.
I strongly recommend a revision. The book has potential, and I hope to see it, but for now, this ain't it.
I had DDG sitting in my virtual TBR list for a couple of months now, so I hope that this is the super early advance reader's copy that I received, because honey…
I had two major issues with the book: How it was written and how the story panned out. The story itself wasn't bad. It has all the dressings to make a good gumbo. I simply think it needs another revision. The pacing was good, but the flow of the story is very choppy. Afia tried to create an air of suspense, but it came off lazy.
The opening of the story started strong and clear. It introduces a young girl who experienced first-hand kidnapping and fast-forwarded that same girl's life ten years later. After her run-in with the police from a night of partying, the story started to fall flat for me. Where I considered DNFing, reached from the stupidity of the main character's thinking. To put it, that girl sucks at being a detective. All her moves were predictable and careless, and she had way too many feelings she couldn't explain but acted on impulse.
I strongly recommend a revision. The book has potential, and I hope to see it, but for now, this ain't it.
May 7, 2021
There is some choppy or abrupt moments in the prose and pacing, but overall, this was a wonderfully surprising historical mystery. I was expecting something akin to Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries, and while the set pieces bear some similarities, this was a wonderfully dark serial killer thriller set in 1920s Harlem. I loved seeing a different kind of protagonist than we normally see in these books, and I found this to be a very page turning, satisfying mystery
CW: racism & hate crimes
CW: racism & hate crimes
October 11, 2021
I was unsure of what to rate this book. I wanted to like it so much more than I did. The book starts out well, I was invested and the pages pretty much turned themselves.
I Was In....
But then towards the middle of the book the story came to a stop. From about the 160 page mark on the book dragged. And I began to struggle to care about story. It was rather disappointing because up until that point I was enjoying myself. Then this book committed one of my pet peeves. It rushed the ending. I felt like the end of the book came out of nowhere. When I reached the final page I went back because I was sure I had missed something.
I obviously I figured out who the killer was immediately but that's not a flex because as soon as that person made their appearance it was obvious they were the villain.
Also what was the killer's motivations?
I just finished the book and I've already forgotten.
But Erin if you hated this book so much then why did you give it 3 Stars?
Because that first half was just that great. And I would love this book adapted. I also love things set during the 1920's. If I could pick another time to live in it would be 1. The 1920's 2. The 1960's. Both were important times in the history of Black America and as a Black American woman would love to have experienced it firsthand.
I'm also going easy on this book because it's a debut, I think Nekesa Afia's writing has room to grow. I do plan to read the next book in the series but if that book is more of the same I'll probably just throw in the towel.
I Was In....
But then towards the middle of the book the story came to a stop. From about the 160 page mark on the book dragged. And I began to struggle to care about story. It was rather disappointing because up until that point I was enjoying myself. Then this book committed one of my pet peeves. It rushed the ending. I felt like the end of the book came out of nowhere. When I reached the final page I went back because I was sure I had missed something.
I obviously I figured out who the killer was immediately but that's not a flex because as soon as that person made their appearance it was obvious they were the villain.
Also what was the killer's motivations?
I just finished the book and I've already forgotten.
But Erin if you hated this book so much then why did you give it 3 Stars?
Because that first half was just that great. And I would love this book adapted. I also love things set during the 1920's. If I could pick another time to live in it would be 1. The 1920's 2. The 1960's. Both were important times in the history of Black America and as a Black American woman would love to have experienced it firsthand.
I'm also going easy on this book because it's a debut, I think Nekesa Afia's writing has room to grow. I do plan to read the next book in the series but if that book is more of the same I'll probably just throw in the towel.
August 17, 2021
Nekesa Afia’s own promotional copy (displayed at her Twitter account @nekesaafia) exceeds anything I could devise: “if you want a jazz age murder mystery starring a tiny, tired lesbian, look no further than DEAD DEAD GIRLS.”
Afia’s a Canadian millennial and Dead Dead Girls is her debut novel, the first in a planned series of historical mysteries featuring young, Black, queer Louise Lloyd. Lloyd is in Prohibition-era Harlem, carrying a robust amount of psychological baggage as a survivor of a kidnapping several years prior to the beginning of the book and somewhat estranged from her parents, in a long-term relationship with another woman residing at the same rooming house, and dancing and drinking nightly at a local club, the Zodiac, when she runs afoul of a cop who blackmails her into becoming an amateur investigator of multiple murders of young Black women in her neighborhood. (Yeah, just go with it...)
Nothing sets Afia’s online hair on fire like referring to Dead Dead Girls as a cozy mystery (her Twitter handle is Nekesa NOT A COZY AUTHOR Afia); however, I suspect her reaction reveals that she doesn’t want to buy into the confines of her perception of the cozy mystery genre even as she’s given us a likable woman amateur sleuth who is highly intuitive and bright, not taken seriously by the (white) detectives and surrounded by interesting secondary characters -- all the hallmarks of a cozy mystery, naturally. Harlem isn’t a small New England village, to be sure. But Afia's Harlem isn't Chester Himes' Harlem, 30 years prior; it isn't a gritty, threatening place. It's a neighborhood where everybody knows your name. Louise loses her job early on, but isn’t once worried about money or being unable to pay her rent, for example. I wasn’t for a moment worried for Louise’s physical safety, which is rather odd considering that much of the action takes place at night-time and Louise is inevitably on foot, unaccompanied, at 2 am. The sense of menace is abstract, even as the corpses pile up. On the plus side, the pacing is generally consistent, and her secondary characters (Rosa Maria and Rafael) are highly appealing.
The thing is, the story Afia is interested in telling isn’t about who is killing those girls. They’re just a plot device. As a reader, only one corpse is a sad surprise. You’d be hard-pressed to name the victims, so undifferentiated and un-real are they, when you close the cover for the last time. I would bet $100 that Afia hasn’t read a contemporary mystery, ever, so when she reveals whom the killer is 65% or so of the way through, and does a careless, sloppy job of an ending, with almost no explanation of why the murderer took the lives of his victims, she doesn’t intend to frustrate reader-sleuths. She’s just not in to telling the mystery aspects of her story, and I doubt the second book will be any stronger in terms of the mystery-craft. She’s energized by something different – Louise, her friends, sisters, and peers, Harlem – centering her tiny, tired lesbian in her neighborhood, and her struggles – interior and exterior, equally.
Look at the cover art. At first glance, it resembles a traditional genre cover – the font is feminine and the opposite of everything that is popular in cover design for 2021 literary fiction. The woman depicted is pretty, elegant, accessorized appropriately. But her expression? It suggests boredom, carelessness, alertness to her surroundings; a woman who is attractive, but not stunning, and not to be trifled with. She’s approachable, but jaded and can take care of herself. That cover says, this isn’t your mama’s cozy mystery. Maybe it’s yours, though. Maybe you’re in the mood for Afia’s boundless confidence as a writer, her elbows-out plot choices challenging you to accept what she’s done and begone if you don’t, her fierce love of the world she’s built and Louise. Dead Dead Girls is more than the sum of its parts. If you’re a lover of cozies, though? Don’t read it just to hate on it.
Afia’s a Canadian millennial and Dead Dead Girls is her debut novel, the first in a planned series of historical mysteries featuring young, Black, queer Louise Lloyd. Lloyd is in Prohibition-era Harlem, carrying a robust amount of psychological baggage as a survivor of a kidnapping several years prior to the beginning of the book and somewhat estranged from her parents, in a long-term relationship with another woman residing at the same rooming house, and dancing and drinking nightly at a local club, the Zodiac, when she runs afoul of a cop who blackmails her into becoming an amateur investigator of multiple murders of young Black women in her neighborhood. (Yeah, just go with it...)
Nothing sets Afia’s online hair on fire like referring to Dead Dead Girls as a cozy mystery (her Twitter handle is Nekesa NOT A COZY AUTHOR Afia); however, I suspect her reaction reveals that she doesn’t want to buy into the confines of her perception of the cozy mystery genre even as she’s given us a likable woman amateur sleuth who is highly intuitive and bright, not taken seriously by the (white) detectives and surrounded by interesting secondary characters -- all the hallmarks of a cozy mystery, naturally. Harlem isn’t a small New England village, to be sure. But Afia's Harlem isn't Chester Himes' Harlem, 30 years prior; it isn't a gritty, threatening place. It's a neighborhood where everybody knows your name. Louise loses her job early on, but isn’t once worried about money or being unable to pay her rent, for example. I wasn’t for a moment worried for Louise’s physical safety, which is rather odd considering that much of the action takes place at night-time and Louise is inevitably on foot, unaccompanied, at 2 am. The sense of menace is abstract, even as the corpses pile up. On the plus side, the pacing is generally consistent, and her secondary characters (Rosa Maria and Rafael) are highly appealing.
The thing is, the story Afia is interested in telling isn’t about who is killing those girls. They’re just a plot device. As a reader, only one corpse is a sad surprise. You’d be hard-pressed to name the victims, so undifferentiated and un-real are they, when you close the cover for the last time. I would bet $100 that Afia hasn’t read a contemporary mystery, ever, so when she reveals whom the killer is 65% or so of the way through, and does a careless, sloppy job of an ending, with almost no explanation of why the murderer took the lives of his victims, she doesn’t intend to frustrate reader-sleuths. She’s just not in to telling the mystery aspects of her story, and I doubt the second book will be any stronger in terms of the mystery-craft. She’s energized by something different – Louise, her friends, sisters, and peers, Harlem – centering her tiny, tired lesbian in her neighborhood, and her struggles – interior and exterior, equally.
Look at the cover art. At first glance, it resembles a traditional genre cover – the font is feminine and the opposite of everything that is popular in cover design for 2021 literary fiction. The woman depicted is pretty, elegant, accessorized appropriately. But her expression? It suggests boredom, carelessness, alertness to her surroundings; a woman who is attractive, but not stunning, and not to be trifled with. She’s approachable, but jaded and can take care of herself. That cover says, this isn’t your mama’s cozy mystery. Maybe it’s yours, though. Maybe you’re in the mood for Afia’s boundless confidence as a writer, her elbows-out plot choices challenging you to accept what she’s done and begone if you don’t, her fierce love of the world she’s built and Louise. Dead Dead Girls is more than the sum of its parts. If you’re a lover of cozies, though? Don’t read it just to hate on it.
September 25, 2021
At the age of 15, Louise Lloyd became “Harlem’s Hero” when she managed to escape from a kidnapper/murderer and bring three other girls with her. Now, at 26, she just wants to be anonymous, spending her days working at a cafe and her nights dancing and drinking with her girlfriend.I was eagerly looking forward to this book. Look at that cover! And the idea of a queer Black woman solving mysteries in flapper Harlem? Five stars! I was so in.
But then a dead girl is left in front of the cafe. And the detective assigned to the case pulls Louise in to help track down a serial killer.
But the execution sadly is just lacking.
My biggest problem with this book is that it is unrelentingly dark and depressing. Okay, murders are by definition heartbreaking. But everything in this book is grim and dreary. Louise has a tense relationship with her family: her mother is dead and she’s estranged from her father and one sister, although she does have a few pleasant moments with her two youngest sisters. She’s not getting along so great with Rosa Maria, her girlfriend, for much of this story. She doesn’t seem to have any other friends or warm acquaintances. And she takes on the investigative field work assigned to her with no interest, only resentment. By the time I got to the end of this book, I saw all the scenes only in black and white and grey. No color, no sunshine.
The writing was all right, but suffers from serious first-novelitis. A lot of the shifts between scenes and especially chapters are very clunky — they can’t be called “transitions,” but are more like skips on a vinyl record. Too many times, something interesting would seem to be happening, but then in the next scene it was two days later and I couldn’t figure out how the story got there! Worse, there are a bunch of foreshadowing statements that an editor should have strongly recommended removing. “That was the last time …” “She should have listened …” “She would come to regret …” etc., all of which suck any surprise out of the next series of events. One of the statements basically reveals who the murderer is, before the halfway point of the story!
But even with these flaws, I was engaged enough that I was planning to 3-star the book right up until the final two or three chapters. Then something happened that made me so angry, I nearly stomped on the book. Yes, it might be what really would have taken place, but it’s not what I wanted to read. It guaranteed that I will not be reading any future installments in this series, and sank my rating to 2 stars. Plus, nothing is wrapped up. There’s no real motive for the murders, or why the murderer switched the way they killed the girls, or why the dead girls were all left with religious cards in their hands.
Last but not least, the murderer is dubbed “The Girl Killer” by the media. Seriously, that’s it?
So despite my high hopes for this book, and my continuing love for that cover, this was just a miss for me.
February 1, 2021
I absolutely LOVED this book. Such a powerful debut from a writer to watch, and Louise Lloyd is about to become your new favorite protagonist. I'm so glad this is a series to have more of Louise to look forward to! Superbly paced and impossible to put down. Five emphatic stars!
May 12, 2021
Louise Lloyd, age 15 at the time, escaped her kidnapper and saved three other girls from their captor. At the young age of 15, Louise became the famous “Harlem Hero.”
Fast forward 10 years. Louise, now a young woman, is determined to lead a normal life. A life without the stigma of the “Harlem Hero.” In her determination, Louise undertakes a life filled with bootleg alcohol and dancing by night, and working the local cafe by day.
Louise’s past cannot be forgotten as fears begin to mount in the neighborhood. There is a kidnapper at large. A kidnapper that murders its victims. Tensions escalate and Louise is forced to assist in the murder investigations under the guise that white detectives aren’t able to penetrate the Harlem neighborhood for clues.
Dead Dead Girls is not a high octane suspense, nor is it a jet fueled thriller. It is a steamship voyage into the Roaring Twenties and the Harlem Renaissance. It is an interesting and measured read.
The characters are fascinating and the plot is not like your everyday “whodunnit.” Rather, the “who” is revealed, and the evidence needs to be proven. Not the typical format, but it is something different. However, I didn’t particularly like knowing the “who” as it didn’t seem like there was enough evidence to prove the alleged perpetrator guilty. Added to this, is the unlikely scenario that a common/layperson would be recruited to assist in any murder investigation — it was a little too far fetched for me.
In any event, Dead Dead Girls is a decent read and worthy of two stars. It was okay.
I received a digital ARC from Berkley Publishing Group through NetGalley. The review herein is completely my own and contains my honest thoughts and opinions.
Fast forward 10 years. Louise, now a young woman, is determined to lead a normal life. A life without the stigma of the “Harlem Hero.” In her determination, Louise undertakes a life filled with bootleg alcohol and dancing by night, and working the local cafe by day.
Louise’s past cannot be forgotten as fears begin to mount in the neighborhood. There is a kidnapper at large. A kidnapper that murders its victims. Tensions escalate and Louise is forced to assist in the murder investigations under the guise that white detectives aren’t able to penetrate the Harlem neighborhood for clues.
Dead Dead Girls is not a high octane suspense, nor is it a jet fueled thriller. It is a steamship voyage into the Roaring Twenties and the Harlem Renaissance. It is an interesting and measured read.
The characters are fascinating and the plot is not like your everyday “whodunnit.” Rather, the “who” is revealed, and the evidence needs to be proven. Not the typical format, but it is something different. However, I didn’t particularly like knowing the “who” as it didn’t seem like there was enough evidence to prove the alleged perpetrator guilty. Added to this, is the unlikely scenario that a common/layperson would be recruited to assist in any murder investigation — it was a little too far fetched for me.
In any event, Dead Dead Girls is a decent read and worthy of two stars. It was okay.
I received a digital ARC from Berkley Publishing Group through NetGalley. The review herein is completely my own and contains my honest thoughts and opinions.
October 12, 2022
Set during the Harlem Renaissance this story follows Louise who is a waitress enjoying life as much as she can. She was kidnapped as a young girl but managed to escape and free not only herself but others girls earning herself the nickname of Harlem's Hero. A little over a decade later she still is battling some unresolved trauma which she drowns under alcohol and dancing.
Her life gets shaken up again when she stumbles across a dead body outside of her place of employment. After a drunken altercation with the police she ends up getting recruited as expendable bait to help track down the serial killer terrorizing the Harlem streets.
This book took a little bit longer to find it's stride then anticipated. Early on the chapters are very choppy and tend to end in what I assume is an ode to radio mystery shows from that time period. They're these foreshadow heavy cliffhangers meant to build suspense. Which ended up foreshadowing the killer earlier in the story than necessary. Once those were dropped and the author let the suspense build naturally the story flowed much better.
I could tell the author had fun with this 1920s setting and wanted to play up the glitz and glamour as much as she could while also keeping it clear that it wasn't all sunshine and roses for Black women.
The writing gets stronger towards the end as the story finds it's stride. This series has potential to expand beyond the illegal booze and worst kept secret speakeasies into something magical.
3/5 stars
I received an arc from Berkley in exchange for an honest review.
A little more in depth here
https://womenofcolorreadtoo.blogspot....
Her life gets shaken up again when she stumbles across a dead body outside of her place of employment. After a drunken altercation with the police she ends up getting recruited as expendable bait to help track down the serial killer terrorizing the Harlem streets.
This book took a little bit longer to find it's stride then anticipated. Early on the chapters are very choppy and tend to end in what I assume is an ode to radio mystery shows from that time period. They're these foreshadow heavy cliffhangers meant to build suspense. Which ended up foreshadowing the killer earlier in the story than necessary. Once those were dropped and the author let the suspense build naturally the story flowed much better.
I could tell the author had fun with this 1920s setting and wanted to play up the glitz and glamour as much as she could while also keeping it clear that it wasn't all sunshine and roses for Black women.
The writing gets stronger towards the end as the story finds it's stride. This series has potential to expand beyond the illegal booze and worst kept secret speakeasies into something magical.
3/5 stars
I received an arc from Berkley in exchange for an honest review.
A little more in depth here
https://womenofcolorreadtoo.blogspot....
May 5, 2021
The bones of this story are so good. A lesbian POC solving crime in 1926 Harlem. So much catnip in one sentence. I wanted another enjoyable historical murder series to look forward to reading a new volume every year. However, the construction of the book needs a rewrite. The flow of chapters is horrible. At the beginning of every chapter, I don't know where we are or how we got there. It reminded me of reading short stories. I honestly want Nekesa Afia to work on it before it gets published. The lost potential of this book hurts.
This review is based on an advanced reader copy provided through Netgalley for an honest review.
This review is based on an advanced reader copy provided through Netgalley for an honest review.
December 28, 2020
I LOVED this book and Louise. I wish I could have known her, and gone out dancing and drinking with her back in the 20's. The book brings the 1920's in Harlem to life, to the point that I could picture Maggie's cafe and Zodiac, the speakeasy where Lou goes dancing at night, so clearly. The mystery of the dead girls kept me intrigued and I couldn't put the book down. I had to find out who was killing all these girls, and every guess was wrong. That's when I know I am reading a master mystery novel, when I can't guess who the killer is. The tension was well done, the pacing so intense it kept me turning pages, and I love Louise Lloyd and her world so much. I can't wait to read more about Lou in the next book!
July 1, 2021
Rep: Black lesbian mc, Latina lesbian li, Latino gay side character, Black side characters
CWs: rape threats, racial slurs, sexual harassment, attempted rape, femicide
i think the problem i had was mainly to do with the writing. for all that the book is set in 1926, it really doesn't feel it. about the only thing that suggests it is, is the slang.
and (more personally) i'm begging that you stop trying to end every section with short snappy sentences. in fact, i'm begging that everything about this book is longer (sentences, scenes and chapters), there's just no build up to anything that happens (case in point: someone dies in front of louise and there's nothing that suggests he's dying until a line that's basically "he's dead". louise doesn't even worry or call for help until then!!).
and the foreshadowing was so obvious i guessed the killer from the moment louise first asked someone what she thought of them!
CWs: rape threats, racial slurs, sexual harassment, attempted rape, femicide
i think the problem i had was mainly to do with the writing. for all that the book is set in 1926, it really doesn't feel it. about the only thing that suggests it is, is the slang.
and (more personally) i'm begging that you stop trying to end every section with short snappy sentences. in fact, i'm begging that everything about this book is longer (sentences, scenes and chapters), there's just no build up to anything that happens (case in point: someone dies in front of louise and there's nothing that suggests he's dying until a line that's basically "he's dead". louise doesn't even worry or call for help until then!!).
and the foreshadowing was so obvious i guessed the killer from the moment louise first asked someone what she thought of them!
June 4, 2021
I didn’t like the writing in this- it rubbed me up the wrong way. Also I didn’t really find the premise of the MC becoming an amateur detective convincing,nor some of the situations she found herself in. It’s a real shame as I’d been really looking forward to this book- there’s a real gap in the historical mystery market for any young black protagonist, and especially a female one. The book may also have been spoiled for me by reading Libba Bray’s excellent Diviner’s series set in the same time period.
August 7, 2021
Where do I start with this one?
I struggled big time with this book. I was so excited to read about another story based in 1920s Harlem. After reading Wild Women and the Blues I’ve been craving more black historical fiction including the glamour and beauty of African American culture. So with this book (and this incredible cover), I just knew I would get the fix I needed. However…
My first issue was with the ominous sentences at the end of many of the chapters early on in the book. Listen, I don’t read thrillers to know the ending from the very beginning. There’s no need to foreshadow the biggest plot twist in such obvious ways, in the first chapters of a book.
“She didn’t listen to her. But she would wish she had”… Why was this (and many other closing sentences) this blatant if the author expected us to stay engaged throughout? There can be Easter eggs strategically placed in a story, but I don’t know why it would be necessary to give away the ending 10% in.
I was hoping for the book to be more descriptive and indicative of the time period. There were a few instances in which the slang, though it made sense for the era, was the only thing that reminded the reader that this wasn’t based in the current day. What did it feel like to be a black New Yorker in 1926? What sounds were you likely to hear if you opened your windows? What did the killer look like? Smell like? Even the important characters seemed to only get the slightest of descriptions, “browner than she” doesn’t mean anything if you don’t know how brown ‘she’ was.
There were also too many characters to keep up with. I was lost at one point, and tired of backtracking, so I just decided to move forward even though I wasn’t always clear who was speaking to the protagonist many times during the story. There were at least 4 characters that weren’t needed in my opinion. And one characters 180-degree turn was off-putting to say the least. If someone is an adamant racist during the first 75% of the book, I don’t want to hear about how he all of a sudden cares about black women in the final chapters. It’s not logical.
The writing in the book ebbed and flowed for me. Parts just didn’t make sense to me. Why would a black kidnapping victim with no legal experience be tapped to solve random murders - almost EVERYONE accepted it? Clarity aside, the writing was still my biggest challenge. Sometimes, there were beautifully written sentences such as one that described light fighting its way through the curtains at dusk only to land on floor at the foot of the bed (wordy, I know, but trust me - it was much more elegantly written in the book). But unfortunately there were also a lot of sentences that were written in a way that sounded repetitious. Passages like “she’d gotten what she needed. And she’d hoped she would find what she needed.” Were sprinkled throughout. Also the dialogues were choppy to me - the conversations didn’t always make sense and many seemed to just serve the purpose of moving the story forward, whether it made complete sense or not.
I will say that I appreciated how short the chapters were. It made it so much easier to find stopping places when I needed to.
I really, really wanted to like this book, but it wasn’t for me at all. The cover and the positive black, female representation is worth at least half a star alone but I think I’m landing on 2 stars for my final rating. I do hope others check it out, since I think there were some unique elements. I also think we have to give credit to the author for this being her first novel. But, it didn’t at all give me what I thought it would.
I struggled big time with this book. I was so excited to read about another story based in 1920s Harlem. After reading Wild Women and the Blues I’ve been craving more black historical fiction including the glamour and beauty of African American culture. So with this book (and this incredible cover), I just knew I would get the fix I needed. However…
My first issue was with the ominous sentences at the end of many of the chapters early on in the book. Listen, I don’t read thrillers to know the ending from the very beginning. There’s no need to foreshadow the biggest plot twist in such obvious ways, in the first chapters of a book.
“She didn’t listen to her. But she would wish she had”… Why was this (and many other closing sentences) this blatant if the author expected us to stay engaged throughout? There can be Easter eggs strategically placed in a story, but I don’t know why it would be necessary to give away the ending 10% in.
I was hoping for the book to be more descriptive and indicative of the time period. There were a few instances in which the slang, though it made sense for the era, was the only thing that reminded the reader that this wasn’t based in the current day. What did it feel like to be a black New Yorker in 1926? What sounds were you likely to hear if you opened your windows? What did the killer look like? Smell like? Even the important characters seemed to only get the slightest of descriptions, “browner than she” doesn’t mean anything if you don’t know how brown ‘she’ was.
There were also too many characters to keep up with. I was lost at one point, and tired of backtracking, so I just decided to move forward even though I wasn’t always clear who was speaking to the protagonist many times during the story. There were at least 4 characters that weren’t needed in my opinion. And one characters 180-degree turn was off-putting to say the least. If someone is an adamant racist during the first 75% of the book, I don’t want to hear about how he all of a sudden cares about black women in the final chapters. It’s not logical.
The writing in the book ebbed and flowed for me. Parts just didn’t make sense to me. Why would a black kidnapping victim with no legal experience be tapped to solve random murders - almost EVERYONE accepted it? Clarity aside, the writing was still my biggest challenge. Sometimes, there were beautifully written sentences such as one that described light fighting its way through the curtains at dusk only to land on floor at the foot of the bed (wordy, I know, but trust me - it was much more elegantly written in the book). But unfortunately there were also a lot of sentences that were written in a way that sounded repetitious. Passages like “she’d gotten what she needed. And she’d hoped she would find what she needed.” Were sprinkled throughout. Also the dialogues were choppy to me - the conversations didn’t always make sense and many seemed to just serve the purpose of moving the story forward, whether it made complete sense or not.
I will say that I appreciated how short the chapters were. It made it so much easier to find stopping places when I needed to.
I really, really wanted to like this book, but it wasn’t for me at all. The cover and the positive black, female representation is worth at least half a star alone but I think I’m landing on 2 stars for my final rating. I do hope others check it out, since I think there were some unique elements. I also think we have to give credit to the author for this being her first novel. But, it didn’t at all give me what I thought it would.
June 18, 2021
Ugh. At 40% in, I didn't think I'd like it. At 63% I knew I wouldn't enjoy it, but I pushed through and skimmed the last quarter of the book. Did. Not. Like. The plot was predictable and I guessed it early on, but I could not get with the writing style. It didn't flow. The sentences were choppy and there wasn't enough transition to explain thoughts and scenes. I trudged through because it was my book club pick and I wanted to participate in the discussion.
June 10, 2021
I'm a simple gal, I see this on Twitter and immediately add the book to my TBR: "if you want a jazz age murder mystery starring a tiny, tired lesbian, look no further than DEAD DEAD GIRLS." And let me tell you: this debut historical mystery did not disappoint! With an amazing atmosphere, complex characters, and engaging plot, I devoured this book in two sittings *shakes fist at sleep*
The pacing is a little weird towards the end of the book, and I would have liked maybe 20 more pages. I was genuinely wondering if there was going to be a resolution in this book because I was getting close to the end and it was still all rising action building toward the final confrontation... and then it's resolved in a page. I had a case of reader whiplash because I was vibing so hard with the book and then it was over in a blink; I was left feeling a little unsatisfied, which is a shame because other than that it was a stellar read.
Overall, Nekesa Afia's historical mystery debut wowed me. I love being so engaged in a plot that I can't put a book down, and the mystery itself is plotted well. While the ending came a little quicker than I'd have liked, it's a testament that I wanted to keep reading. I look forward to the next installment in this series and recommend this one to lovers of historical mystery with female characters who become detectives to speak for the forgotten victims.
Representation: Black main character, diverse main cast, LGBT+ characters (gay and sapphic characters)
Content Warnings: attempted rape, depictions of grief, loss of a loved one, murder, racism, sexism, use of n-word, victim blaming
eARC provided by the publisher via Netgalley for my honest review. This does not affect my opinions of the book nor the content of my review. Quotations are from an uncorrected proof and are subject to change upon final publication.
"Secrets were made and kept at the Zodiac. It was a place where men could dance with men, and women could dance with women."Instantly gripping with a sense of unease creeping from the narrative, I was transported to Jazz Age New York City. Let's set the scene for Dead Dead Girls with some Jazz ! I loved how the reader is introduced to Louise in the "present time" of 1926 on the dance floor of a Prohibition era club: the freedom and excitement of expressing herself dances on the page. The Zodiac is where she can be herself and dance with her partner Rosa.
"On nights like tonight, everything fell into place, and 'good' wasn't even the best word to describe it. 'Magical,' maybe. The way the room vibrated with anticipation as the band struck up, and she was whirled onto the dance floor -- it always elicited the same feeling."Diminutive in stature but not in personality, Louise is a main character you can't help but root for. A survivor of kidnapping ten years prior, she lives a happy and 'simple' life as a waitress and tries to move past her notoriety. But when Black girls turn up dead, the police "ask" (aka force) Louise to help them solve the crimes because she can go where the white cops can't. This is the last thing she wants, but she feels a responsibility to her community to do what she can... and it's quickly obvious that the police haven't been doing much in their investigation. She fights for Black girls who the system seems to not care about and I like how she challenges white apathy.
"Summers were time for them to get together as a community. But no one trusted anyone anymore. There was doubt seeping in through the cracks of a community that used to be so close."Expertly plotted, I love how the clues and hints all tie into the greater mystery rather than having obvious and poorly contrived red herrings. Every chapter ends with a quip that only someone recalling with 20/20 perspective would say, and that not only kept me on my toes but kept me reading. I had to know what would happen next, and I was on pins and needles trying to figure out who the killer is and who the killer will attack next. It's a fast read and one I struggled to put down.
"It was strange to see how her story wasn't a story until it was. There was no mention of missing girls, no mention of her being snatched from the sidewalk blocks from her home, no mention of this utterly life-changing event, until there was a fifteen-year-old Louise looking shellshocked and dirty, accompanied by three other girls."There's a parallel spanning ten years in Louise's life: when she was abducted in the past and her trying to solve the murders in the present. How no one beyond the community seemed to care about the missing girls until Louise escape; how no one cared about the murdered girls until bodies were left out in the open. It's a critique on not only the news cycle and sensationalism of media but also how crimes against Black people often go unreported and under-investigated. Lingo and slang of the era helps to solidify the era, as sadly the trials and tribulations of Louise and other Black girls of Harlem could have been set in modern times with little difference.
The pacing is a little weird towards the end of the book, and I would have liked maybe 20 more pages. I was genuinely wondering if there was going to be a resolution in this book because I was getting close to the end and it was still all rising action building toward the final confrontation... and then it's resolved in a page. I had a case of reader whiplash because I was vibing so hard with the book and then it was over in a blink; I was left feeling a little unsatisfied, which is a shame because other than that it was a stellar read.
Overall, Nekesa Afia's historical mystery debut wowed me. I love being so engaged in a plot that I can't put a book down, and the mystery itself is plotted well. While the ending came a little quicker than I'd have liked, it's a testament that I wanted to keep reading. I look forward to the next installment in this series and recommend this one to lovers of historical mystery with female characters who become detectives to speak for the forgotten victims.
Representation: Black main character, diverse main cast, LGBT+ characters (gay and sapphic characters)
Content Warnings: attempted rape, depictions of grief, loss of a loved one, murder, racism, sexism, use of n-word, victim blaming
eARC provided by the publisher via Netgalley for my honest review. This does not affect my opinions of the book nor the content of my review. Quotations are from an uncorrected proof and are subject to change upon final publication.
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February 27, 2022
3.5 stronger beginning than end, why so many repetitions of the phrase “tried to pull myself up to my full height” like
October 9, 2022
If you want a good view of what authors lying to you about books they've been asked to review/blurb looks like, then read through the reviews for this book. Take note of what regular readers are saying and rating it, vs verified author 5 star reviews. Hilarious and so, so transparent.
I think this book had the bones of a good idea, but the writing did not live up to that idea. The setting is 1920s Harlem, but other than one or two clubs, I didn't get a feel for the location. The writing is so, so choppy and insanely repetitive. A chapter would end with the often annoying "but she would regret that" or "she'd never be seen again," only to throw us into a new scene with no connection from the previous chapter to the next. Louise "drew herself up to her full height" and "let out a breath she didn't know she was holding" way too many times. Don't even get me started on how the mystery and Louise's awful detective work played out.
It had potential, but was overall a let down.
I think this book had the bones of a good idea, but the writing did not live up to that idea. The setting is 1920s Harlem, but other than one or two clubs, I didn't get a feel for the location. The writing is so, so choppy and insanely repetitive. A chapter would end with the often annoying "but she would regret that" or "she'd never be seen again," only to throw us into a new scene with no connection from the previous chapter to the next. Louise "drew herself up to her full height" and "let out a breath she didn't know she was holding" way too many times. Don't even get me started on how the mystery and Louise's awful detective work played out.
It had potential, but was overall a let down.
February 8, 2021
I had the pleasure of reading an early copy of this debut novel about a queer Black woman in 1920s Harlem forced to assist in the investigation of a serial killer targeting Black girls in her neighborhood. This writer is definitely a talent to watch. Here's my blurb:
'Though she be but little, she is fierce.' Shakespeare might as well have been describing Louise Lloyd, the flawed yet fantastic protagonist in Afia's debut set in 1920s Harlem. I loved the world that Afia created and can't wait to follow Lou and her friends on their next adventure. Come for the wonderfully diverse and twisty mystery, stay for the amazing 20s slang and fashion.
'Though she be but little, she is fierce.' Shakespeare might as well have been describing Louise Lloyd, the flawed yet fantastic protagonist in Afia's debut set in 1920s Harlem. I loved the world that Afia created and can't wait to follow Lou and her friends on their next adventure. Come for the wonderfully diverse and twisty mystery, stay for the amazing 20s slang and fashion.
April 13, 2021
It’s 1926, and Louise, a resident of Harlem, has just hit a police officer because she thought was hurting another girl, and because she has a temper. She should be booked for assault, but Detective Gilbert says if she will help him solve the case of girls who are being killed in the neighborhood, he will make the case disappear. I didn’t buy this premise at all--since the police were pretty disrespectful to the Harlem residents, it seemed unlikely that this white officer would ask Louise to help with a case. Sadly, the killer’s identity was pretty obvious, too, and the ending was unsatisfying I was looking forward to reading a mystery set during the Harlem Renaissance, but this novel was a major disappointment--two and a half stars. Thanks to Edelweiss and the publisher for the ARC.
July 27, 2021
I never give one star reviews. But this book was written in a way that took away from the suspence rather than added to it. The prose was too on the nose and dramatic, making me roll my eyes instead of keep reading. I was so excited about the plot and the setting, but felt they were kept in the background a bit too much. I just hated it. Worst book of 2021 for me.
June 13, 2021
I really really wanted to like this book, but it just never hit its stride for me. We open with a past scene of our MC Louise being kidnapped when she is 16, she is able to fight off her kidnappers and take other kidnapped girls to safety.
Fast forward 10 years, and we learn that Louise was a bit of a local hero in Harlem for her daring escape and rescue. She has escaped from her father’s strict religious household and has worked as a chorus girl, but now works in a cafe and frequents speakeasies at night with her girlfriend and best friend. One morning when she arrives at work, she finds a young black girl strangled in front of the cafe. More young girls begin to be killed, after an altercation with the police the main detective on the case enlists Louise to help him find “the Girl murderer” in order to have a clean record.
I think what this book does best is highlight how hard it was to be a black woman during this time period. Louise and the other young black girls in the novel have to be weary not only of white men, but black men especially those of authority - police, club owners, etc. No men in the book are really safe for Louise to trust. The author does a good job of highlighting the different paths of woman at this time as well - traditional mother and homemaker and those trying to make it own their own.
Downsides there are a lot of characters and I had constantly flip back to get people straight between detectives police officers, family, club girls, gangsters, and suspects. The problem is that none of these characters are well developed so it’s hard for them to stick in your brain. Louise’s character really had this chip on her shoulder, and it just felt annoying after a while. I just never was really rooting for her or attached to her. She has this “bad girl” persona that caused her to make mistakes, but besides her escape from her kidnapper she didn’t really seem that savvy or street-smart. She never really grows from this even after a personal tragedy that was kind of her fault. More on that later.
Heavy handed with foreshadowing. I felt like almost every chapter ended with some heavy handed foreshadowing sentence “she would come to regret this” or “it’s the last time she would ever see her.” It just made the mystery kind of bulky and took out natural suspense.
Louise was not a good detective. She keeps working with the detective even though spoiler he’s the murderer and she and all these other characters seem to talk about how much they distrust him. She does a lot of thinking while smoking cigarettes places, but she doesn’t have really any evidence or go deep into motives for why the killer would be targeting young black girls. The author doesn’t give her a lot to go on to be fair. We know the killer leaves religious cards with victims, but when she kind of starts to go down the road of her religious family and upbringing she talks to one person and it goes nowhere. When she is onto the detective she uses a ouija board to “let him know she’s onto him”. He walks away from ouija encounter and murders her sister. Wtf. You are all about protecting black women and instead of actually doing something to confront the killer you give some half baked warning and he kills a family member. After all the heavy handed writing on protecting young girls and how much she loved her sisters this just seemed weird. It’s not even clear how her sister knows the detective besides one really weird meeting Louise sets up at the diner.
My final issue is we get no real motive for why the killer did it. We are left to kind of assume that he was left by a young black woman so he kills young black women - but the psyche of the killer isn’t well fleshed out. Why did he strangle girls with pearl necklaces then switch up his murdering style? Why was he a detective? Why did he leave Virgin Mary cards with the victim? Why did he obsess over Louise? Because her case happened when he was a young police officer? Why her and not other young women that worked in factories like the women that left him? I have literally no idea. So many details on the murders that are never answered.
One star for the author transporting us to Renaissance Harlem and focusing on the issues of the time period, but wouldn’t read another because the murder mystery part and main character just were lacking for me.
Fast forward 10 years, and we learn that Louise was a bit of a local hero in Harlem for her daring escape and rescue. She has escaped from her father’s strict religious household and has worked as a chorus girl, but now works in a cafe and frequents speakeasies at night with her girlfriend and best friend. One morning when she arrives at work, she finds a young black girl strangled in front of the cafe. More young girls begin to be killed, after an altercation with the police the main detective on the case enlists Louise to help him find “the Girl murderer” in order to have a clean record.
I think what this book does best is highlight how hard it was to be a black woman during this time period. Louise and the other young black girls in the novel have to be weary not only of white men, but black men especially those of authority - police, club owners, etc. No men in the book are really safe for Louise to trust. The author does a good job of highlighting the different paths of woman at this time as well - traditional mother and homemaker and those trying to make it own their own.
Downsides there are a lot of characters and I had constantly flip back to get people straight between detectives police officers, family, club girls, gangsters, and suspects. The problem is that none of these characters are well developed so it’s hard for them to stick in your brain. Louise’s character really had this chip on her shoulder, and it just felt annoying after a while. I just never was really rooting for her or attached to her. She has this “bad girl” persona that caused her to make mistakes, but besides her escape from her kidnapper she didn’t really seem that savvy or street-smart. She never really grows from this even after a personal tragedy that was kind of her fault. More on that later.
Heavy handed with foreshadowing. I felt like almost every chapter ended with some heavy handed foreshadowing sentence “she would come to regret this” or “it’s the last time she would ever see her.” It just made the mystery kind of bulky and took out natural suspense.
Louise was not a good detective. She keeps working with the detective even though spoiler he’s the murderer and she and all these other characters seem to talk about how much they distrust him. She does a lot of thinking while smoking cigarettes places, but she doesn’t have really any evidence or go deep into motives for why the killer would be targeting young black girls. The author doesn’t give her a lot to go on to be fair. We know the killer leaves religious cards with victims, but when she kind of starts to go down the road of her religious family and upbringing she talks to one person and it goes nowhere. When she is onto the detective she uses a ouija board to “let him know she’s onto him”. He walks away from ouija encounter and murders her sister. Wtf. You are all about protecting black women and instead of actually doing something to confront the killer you give some half baked warning and he kills a family member. After all the heavy handed writing on protecting young girls and how much she loved her sisters this just seemed weird. It’s not even clear how her sister knows the detective besides one really weird meeting Louise sets up at the diner.
My final issue is we get no real motive for why the killer did it. We are left to kind of assume that he was left by a young black woman so he kills young black women - but the psyche of the killer isn’t well fleshed out. Why did he strangle girls with pearl necklaces then switch up his murdering style? Why was he a detective? Why did he leave Virgin Mary cards with the victim? Why did he obsess over Louise? Because her case happened when he was a young police officer? Why her and not other young women that worked in factories like the women that left him? I have literally no idea. So many details on the murders that are never answered.
One star for the author transporting us to Renaissance Harlem and focusing on the issues of the time period, but wouldn’t read another because the murder mystery part and main character just were lacking for me.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 9, 2021
The story started out strong, then it got confusing, then frustrating and eventually I was disappointed, most especially by that ending.
WHAT I LIKED
. Gorgeous cover
. Strong start to the story
. A black, queer, female MC in the 1920s (how often do you see this??)
WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE
1. Lou made no sense sometimes - Please explain to me how a supposed detective justifies going out, dancing and drinking all night while smack in the middle of a murder case?? A serial killer case at that?
I understand the part where she had to be in the club to talk to the girls, but the drinking? All night at that? While she's literally the only hope for these poor young black girls? Girl.... no.
2. Again, Lou's decisions made no sense - Who goes out alone at night for a walk when there's a bloody serial killer in the loose??? Chile..... This girl had been kidnapped before (AT NIGHT WHILE WALKING ALONE!!!) and the killer in question is clearly taunting her with the murders but she still leaves home at night/dusk/evening (whatever) to walk alone and even ventures into alleys?!?!? Just....Why???
3. The relationship between Lou and Rosa - There were literally no sparks. Zero. Nada. I understand that they needed to hide their relationship due to the times and they also weren't the 'lovey-dovey' type. However, even when they were together, I couldn't feel this love that Lou kept talking about. I felt like they were together because (1) They were friends (2) They lived together. I feel like if they were to be separated, i.e. live apart, they wouldn't be together
4. The ending - It was very abrupt and quite anti-climatic. We also never got any answers. I still have questions in regards to👇🏾👇🏾👇🏾
WHAT I LIKED
. Gorgeous cover
. Strong start to the story
. A black, queer, female MC in the 1920s (how often do you see this??)
WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE
1. Lou made no sense sometimes - Please explain to me how a supposed detective justifies going out, dancing and drinking all night while smack in the middle of a murder case?? A serial killer case at that?
I understand the part where she had to be in the club to talk to the girls, but the drinking? All night at that? While she's literally the only hope for these poor young black girls? Girl.... no.
2. Again, Lou's decisions made no sense - Who goes out alone at night for a walk when there's a bloody serial killer in the loose??? Chile..... This girl had been kidnapped before (AT NIGHT WHILE WALKING ALONE!!!) and the killer in question is clearly taunting her with the murders but she still leaves home at night/dusk/evening (whatever) to walk alone and even ventures into alleys?!?!? Just....Why???
3. The relationship between Lou and Rosa - There were literally no sparks. Zero. Nada. I understand that they needed to hide their relationship due to the times and they also weren't the 'lovey-dovey' type. However, even when they were together, I couldn't feel this love that Lou kept talking about. I felt like they were together because (1) They were friends (2) They lived together. I feel like if they were to be separated, i.e. live apart, they wouldn't be together
4. The ending - It was very abrupt and quite anti-climatic. We also never got any answers. I still have questions in regards to👇🏾👇🏾👇🏾
June 10, 2021
If you’re about to skip over this one because you don’t read, or aren’t in the mood, for cozy mysteries (which the cover may make you think it is), come back this is not a cozy!
Set during the Harlem Renaissance, Louise Lloyd has never been able to avoid the spotlight after escaping a kidnapper as a teenager, and setting free the other girls in the process. The press has remembered her, as has the Harlem community. When she’s arrested for assaulting an officer, this comes in handy for the police who recognize her and want to use her. There’s a serial killer, killing young Black girls, and the detective in charge thinks a young Black woman like Louise will make it easier to get people to help with the investigation, rather than white cops asking questions. She doesn’t want to but is backed into a corner, so she goes out asking questions, putting herself in danger…
Louise is a great character who, after being kidnapped as a teen, being forced to raise her younger siblings, and thrown out by her father, wears no rose colored glasses when viewing the world. What she does love is dancing with her girlfriend and friend until the morning hours at a speakeasy, with zero intention of marrying or doing any of the things expected of women.
If you’re looking for a historical mystery, set during the exciting Harlem Renaissance, with a bit of a noir feeling to it, pick up this book. I’m excited that it’s a series starter and look forward to more of Louise and the time period.
(TW attempted rape/ kidnapping/ homophobia/ racism)
--from Book Riot's Unusual Suspects newsletter: https://link.bookriot.com/view/56a820...
Set during the Harlem Renaissance, Louise Lloyd has never been able to avoid the spotlight after escaping a kidnapper as a teenager, and setting free the other girls in the process. The press has remembered her, as has the Harlem community. When she’s arrested for assaulting an officer, this comes in handy for the police who recognize her and want to use her. There’s a serial killer, killing young Black girls, and the detective in charge thinks a young Black woman like Louise will make it easier to get people to help with the investigation, rather than white cops asking questions. She doesn’t want to but is backed into a corner, so she goes out asking questions, putting herself in danger…
Louise is a great character who, after being kidnapped as a teen, being forced to raise her younger siblings, and thrown out by her father, wears no rose colored glasses when viewing the world. What she does love is dancing with her girlfriend and friend until the morning hours at a speakeasy, with zero intention of marrying or doing any of the things expected of women.
If you’re looking for a historical mystery, set during the exciting Harlem Renaissance, with a bit of a noir feeling to it, pick up this book. I’m excited that it’s a series starter and look forward to more of Louise and the time period.
(TW attempted rape/ kidnapping/ homophobia/ racism)
--from Book Riot's Unusual Suspects newsletter: https://link.bookriot.com/view/56a820...
April 19, 2021
An intriguing concept and highly anticipated debut that, for me, was a decent read, but not a phenomenal one.
The pacing and suspense were quite good, but many of the plot developments were a bit too convenient for me to feel fully convinced. There is a level of emotional depth here, but I think there is a lot more opportunity to go deeper and subtler, to show rather than to tell (I know, I know...). Some of the dialogue and Louise's investigative threads felt a bit punctuated, although, to be fair, if that's the tradeoff I have to make to get punchy writing with solid pacing, I'll take it.
I appreciated the setting and history that were brought in, even if the world sometimes felt a bit of a blend between the Harlem of the 1920's and modern America. Although this novel gets a mixed reaction from me, I look forward to seeing what the future holds for Nekesa Afia after this first novel.
Note: I was provided a free advance reader's copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
The pacing and suspense were quite good, but many of the plot developments were a bit too convenient for me to feel fully convinced. There is a level of emotional depth here, but I think there is a lot more opportunity to go deeper and subtler, to show rather than to tell (I know, I know...). Some of the dialogue and Louise's investigative threads felt a bit punctuated, although, to be fair, if that's the tradeoff I have to make to get punchy writing with solid pacing, I'll take it.
I appreciated the setting and history that were brought in, even if the world sometimes felt a bit of a blend between the Harlem of the 1920's and modern America. Although this novel gets a mixed reaction from me, I look forward to seeing what the future holds for Nekesa Afia after this first novel.
Note: I was provided a free advance reader's copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
February 14, 2021
Nekesa Afia is a dancer. I know this because I hear it in her writing. Dead Dead Girls is a mystery, but it is also a dance. Afia’s writing is syncopation; short beats, swift turns and quick leaps from page to page, hands clasping, twisting, and separating again. There is a soft rhythm beneath the plot that keeps you attuned to all the words she doesn’t use, to the beat of the ones she does select. That she brings her talents to a mystery about an amateur sleuth in 1920’s Harlem – a Black girl named Lou who loves dancing, drinking, and other women – makes this debut all the more exciting. Lou is a heroine for the ages and much as I wanted to shake some sense in her, I wanted her to stay forever herself, dancing on the edge and cracking wise. Afia’s prose is spare, elegant, and musical and I will forever read anything she writes with the hunger of someone haunted by a tune.
October 30, 2021
I got an awesome opportunity to speak with Nekesa about Dead, Dead Girls. What I loved most about this book was the setting and family relationship elements. As I read this book, I was reminded of what it must have been like for a black woman as a detective at this time. I found the protagonist to be lead to help other girls due to her relationship with her sisters. The cover art is stunning and I can’t wait to read Harlem Sunset!
Interview is below!
https://youtu.be/k8pQ2KSbhBI
Interview is below!
https://youtu.be/k8pQ2KSbhBI
December 22, 2021
I mean, it wasn't BAD, but it sure was underwhelming
April 15, 2021
As a teenager, Louise Lloyd made headlines for escaping her kidnapper--and freeing his other victims on the way. Now, in 1926, she works at a Maggie's Café by day and at Harlem's coolest speakeasy by night. When dead girls from the club start turning up, Louise can't trust the police to find the murderer. Instead, she takes matters into her own hands.
I really, really enjoyed this start to the Harlem Renaissance Mystery series! The setting is so engaging, and Louise Lloyd is the perfect combination of smart, fun, and irreverent. I really wanted to see more of her relationship with Rosa Maria, but hopefully I'll get to read more about it in the next installment!
Thanks to Berkley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.
I really, really enjoyed this start to the Harlem Renaissance Mystery series! The setting is so engaging, and Louise Lloyd is the perfect combination of smart, fun, and irreverent. I really wanted to see more of her relationship with Rosa Maria, but hopefully I'll get to read more about it in the next installment!
Thanks to Berkley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.
June 2, 2021
Great debut - can't wait for the next one!
Afia states in the Acknowledgements this story could have taken place in present day as not much has changed for minorities. She chose the 1920s to connect with her history - Afia does an amazing job bringing Prohibition and the Roaring 20s to life.
At the age of 16, Louise is abducted from a sidewalk, simply walking home. When she wakes, Louise finds herself chained, along with several other young Black girls. With severe determination, Louise not only frees herself, but also fellow captives. She becomes known as the Harlem Hero.
Ten years later, someone is abducting vulnerable young Black girls, killing them and leaving them displayed. In exchange for forgiveness of an altercation, Louise agrees to help lead Detective Gilbert solve the case.
Louise interviews family members, friends of the killed girls, desperate to save those left.
Gritty noir crime novel featuring a strong Black woman. The story pulled me in; I loved Louise and her family.
Highly recommend.
Afia states in the Acknowledgements this story could have taken place in present day as not much has changed for minorities. She chose the 1920s to connect with her history - Afia does an amazing job bringing Prohibition and the Roaring 20s to life.
At the age of 16, Louise is abducted from a sidewalk, simply walking home. When she wakes, Louise finds herself chained, along with several other young Black girls. With severe determination, Louise not only frees herself, but also fellow captives. She becomes known as the Harlem Hero.
Ten years later, someone is abducting vulnerable young Black girls, killing them and leaving them displayed. In exchange for forgiveness of an altercation, Louise agrees to help lead Detective Gilbert solve the case.
Louise interviews family members, friends of the killed girls, desperate to save those left.
Gritty noir crime novel featuring a strong Black woman. The story pulled me in; I loved Louise and her family.
Highly recommend.
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