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Tamara Hayle #2
Devil's Gonna Get Him
Tamara Hayle, the female, African-American P.I. who made her valuable debut (L.A. Times) in the acclaimed When Death Comes Stealing, finds her sleuthing skills put to the ultimate test when her newest and very well-heeled client turns up dead--only hours after he hires her.
212 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1995
14 people are currently reading
357 people want to read
About the author
Valerie Wilson Wesley
47 books438 followersValerie Wilson Wesley is an African-American author of mysteries, adult-theme novels, and children's books,[1] and a former executive editor of Essence magazine. She is the author of the Tamara Hayle mystery series. Her writings, both fiction and non-fiction, have also appeared in numerous publications, including Essence, Family Circle, TV Guide, Ms., The New York Times, and the Swiss weekly magazine Die Weltwoche.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 43 reviews
June 2, 2022
I always love it when the murder victim is so staggeringly unpopular that tons of potential suspects are eager to see him or her dead.
"Why don't you start from the beginning?"
"What beginning?"
"The beginning of why you're glad the 'greasy son of a bitch' is dead?"
"Me and half a dozen other people."
Since P.I. Tamara knew everyone involved in this case, this book had more of a cozy mystery feel than the first novel, but I'll certainly be back for #3.
"Why don't you start from the beginning?"
"What beginning?"
"The beginning of why you're glad the 'greasy son of a bitch' is dead?"
"Me and half a dozen other people."
Since P.I. Tamara knew everyone involved in this case, this book had more of a cozy mystery feel than the first novel, but I'll certainly be back for #3.
August 22, 2019
Sometimes I read a book and after finishing my first thought is "I needed that." That was the case of this one. Tamara Hayle is a great character.
Where you can find me:
•(♥).•*Monlatable Book Reviews*•.(♥)•
Twitter: @monicaisreading
Instagram: @readermonica
Goodreads Group: The Black Bookcase
Where you can find me:
•(♥).•*Monlatable Book Reviews*•.(♥)•
Twitter: @monicaisreading
Instagram: @readermonica
Goodreads Group: The Black Bookcase
April 24, 2010
Valerie Wilson Wesley was a hot up-and-comer on the mystery scene back in the '90s, when I was working at Murder Ink. She and Barbara Neely (who wrote about a black cleaning woman who kept encountering dead bodies) were the first well-publicized black women to be part of the mystery circuit. Sadly, Neely only had 4 books published. Wesley, on the other hand, has had had 19 books published in multiple categories. I'm glad to see that she had some staying power.
Devil's is the second of Wesley's 8 Tamara Hayle books. Set in Newark, NJ and environs, the series follows single mom Hayle as she struggles to support her adolescent son by working as a private investigator. It touches on her struggles as a black woman (both formerly, as a police officer, and in the book's present day) and focuses on Hayle's interactions with Newark's black community, but still left her feeling very accessible to this reader. Devil's may not have been the best book I've ever read, but it definitely pulled me into Hayle's world enough that I'm putting her books at the top of my library priority list.
More specifically, Wesley kept me guessing until the end of the book -- even with regard to how the final scenes would play out. In Devil's, Hayle is hired to investigate the suitor of a wealthy community member's step-daughter -- who happens to be an ex-boyfriend who left some ragged feelings in his wake. Hayle barely has time to enjoy the potential pay-back when her employer drops dead at a fundraiser being held at the restaurant of Hale's long0-time friend. As if that weren't awkward enough, Hayle soon has a new client -- her good friend, who's younger sister has been charged with the crime.
This definitely feels like an early book in a series -- there's still a lot of character development and exposition going on. Now that I know that 6 more Hayle books came after this one, I'm even gladder I read it! And yes, I would have enjoyed this book even if it hadn't involved food.
Devil's is the second of Wesley's 8 Tamara Hayle books. Set in Newark, NJ and environs, the series follows single mom Hayle as she struggles to support her adolescent son by working as a private investigator. It touches on her struggles as a black woman (both formerly, as a police officer, and in the book's present day) and focuses on Hayle's interactions with Newark's black community, but still left her feeling very accessible to this reader. Devil's may not have been the best book I've ever read, but it definitely pulled me into Hayle's world enough that I'm putting her books at the top of my library priority list.
More specifically, Wesley kept me guessing until the end of the book -- even with regard to how the final scenes would play out. In Devil's, Hayle is hired to investigate the suitor of a wealthy community member's step-daughter -- who happens to be an ex-boyfriend who left some ragged feelings in his wake. Hayle barely has time to enjoy the potential pay-back when her employer drops dead at a fundraiser being held at the restaurant of Hale's long0-time friend. As if that weren't awkward enough, Hayle soon has a new client -- her good friend, who's younger sister has been charged with the crime.
This definitely feels like an early book in a series -- there's still a lot of character development and exposition going on. Now that I know that 6 more Hayle books came after this one, I'm even gladder I read it! And yes, I would have enjoyed this book even if it hadn't involved food.
December 22, 2012
I am a huge fan of Valerie Wilson Wesley; I followed her work from Essence magazine. Her mysteries are sharp and well written with a heroine who is street smart and savvy and has problems like we all do. This is the book that started it all and I have read everything she has written, when I like an author I follow their work as long as it stays strong.
July 20, 2009
The Tamara Hayle series is excellent--I really enjoy this author's books.
June 20, 2012
I love Tamara hayle this book was awesome 5 stars
January 17, 2008
Secrets awalys catch up with you. Just remember that if you decide to pick up this book and start to read. I know that I did as a started to read along. Honesty is key even when it seems wrong. then again only you can decide that.
May 25, 2009
I have long gaps in between the times I get to read, but this one was easy to pick up and not forget where the story was.
I like mysteries, and this one has sort of an African American Columbo style to it.
I like mysteries, and this one has sort of an African American Columbo style to it.
April 17, 2022
I like the way this series is written and once you get through the exposition the story really gets going. There is an idleness in pace/rate in which Tamara gathers clues/Intel and maybe that's realistic but I will say I was over halfway through and we still knew about the same as we had when the victim died (which is to say not much). I'm not mad at it though, it of course picks up in the end. It's interesting reading this now seeing as though it's set in 90s, therapy hadn't been invented then, especially not for black folks and it shows in every character smhhhh.
August 2, 2020
3.5 Sterne
August 28, 2023
Interesting.
June 4, 2024
Really good read definitely a cant put the book down read
August 23, 2024
Loved the story but hated the abrupt ending
August 2, 2011
It's been several years since I read this book, but I liked Tamara's savvy coolness. Its fun seeing a sista girl as a PI!
February 20, 2023
Last month Crime Reads ran a piece by Tracy Clark on 10 writers of color whose books you should try, so I checked several of them out of the public library. This was the first one I read.
The author, Valerie Wilson Wesley, wrote a series of eight books about a black, female private eye named Tamara Hayle, and this was the second one in the series. The Crime Reads piece described her strengths well: "The writing is stellar. Clean. Precise. A thing of beauty."''
The dialogue struck me as particularly sharp and accurate for its nearly all-Black cast, and there are some interesting personalities involved. Hayle, who has a teenage son, is hired by a wealthy man to trail the man now dating his daughter, and it turns out to be someone she used to date. We meet the two of them, plus the rich man's pampered wife, a restaurateur who was friends with the PI's dad and a caterer who's the baby sister of the woman who runs a beauty shop beneath Hayle's office. About halfway through, we also meet her friend and adviser, but nothing more, because he's married). There are a couple of cops and a political candidate to round out the list of characters
I also have to say this is the only mystery I've ever read where the method for murdering someone is peanut butter. The dead man was seriously allergic. I really liked that -- pretty imaginative.
That said, there were some weaknesses. The big one: in the early part of the book, where she's trying to build this world, Wesley packs her sentences full of background material -- sometimes too full. We hear a lot about the PI's bad relationship with her own mother and her yearning for her lost brother and her financial difficulties. I think it would have helped the book to spread that stuff out a little more. Also, I figured out the killer pretty easily, in part because there wasn't much of a mystery about that.
Having said that, I was intrigued by the series and will be trying to hunt down the other seven books. Now on to the next book recommended by that Crime Reads piece.
The author, Valerie Wilson Wesley, wrote a series of eight books about a black, female private eye named Tamara Hayle, and this was the second one in the series. The Crime Reads piece described her strengths well: "The writing is stellar. Clean. Precise. A thing of beauty."''
The dialogue struck me as particularly sharp and accurate for its nearly all-Black cast, and there are some interesting personalities involved. Hayle, who has a teenage son, is hired by a wealthy man to trail the man now dating his daughter, and it turns out to be someone she used to date. We meet the two of them, plus the rich man's pampered wife, a restaurateur who was friends with the PI's dad and a caterer who's the baby sister of the woman who runs a beauty shop beneath Hayle's office. About halfway through, we also meet her friend and adviser, but nothing more, because he's married). There are a couple of cops and a political candidate to round out the list of characters
I also have to say this is the only mystery I've ever read where the method for murdering someone is peanut butter. The dead man was seriously allergic. I really liked that -- pretty imaginative.
That said, there were some weaknesses. The big one: in the early part of the book, where she's trying to build this world, Wesley packs her sentences full of background material -- sometimes too full. We hear a lot about the PI's bad relationship with her own mother and her yearning for her lost brother and her financial difficulties. I think it would have helped the book to spread that stuff out a little more. Also, I figured out the killer pretty easily, in part because there wasn't much of a mystery about that.
Having said that, I was intrigued by the series and will be trying to hunt down the other seven books. Now on to the next book recommended by that Crime Reads piece.
June 8, 2020
Devil's Gonna Get Him is the second Tamara Hayle PI mystery, and the first I've read of the series. Tamara Hayle was one of the 1990s women PIs, and one of the few black ones. The series has been on my TBR-list for a long time, so it was great to finally read one.
Tamara Hayle is hired by Lincoln Storey, a successful older black businessman, to follow his step daughter Alexa's boyfriend Brandon Pike, who happens to be Hayle's ex-boyfriend, who broke her heart and trust 3 years earlier. Despite that Hayle takes the case because her financial state is not the greatest. However, the very night she is hired, Storey is killed in a restaurant he owned by the way of peanut butter - he was severely allergic-, and soon Hayle has a new client, who wants her to find out who killed Storey.
The mystery was solid, but most importantly, Tamara Hayle was a well-established MC. She is a solid PI and mystery solver, but she is also a single mother, a woman who seeks love, a sister of a brother who committed suicide, a child of a mother who treated her badly before dying when Hayle was still a child, and an ex-cop. So, she solves the case, but also deals with her own issues, and both elements work well.
After this, I'm looking forward to read more of the series. The series has altogether 8 books, and currently six of them are available as ebooks, as books 3 and 6 are for some reason unavailable.
SPOILER
As the plot develops, two of the women are revealed to have been in love, even though they have also relationship(s) with men, so there is an LGBTQ+ element to the mystery, too.
Tamara Hayle is hired by Lincoln Storey, a successful older black businessman, to follow his step daughter Alexa's boyfriend Brandon Pike, who happens to be Hayle's ex-boyfriend, who broke her heart and trust 3 years earlier. Despite that Hayle takes the case because her financial state is not the greatest. However, the very night she is hired, Storey is killed in a restaurant he owned by the way of peanut butter - he was severely allergic-, and soon Hayle has a new client, who wants her to find out who killed Storey.
The mystery was solid, but most importantly, Tamara Hayle was a well-established MC. She is a solid PI and mystery solver, but she is also a single mother, a woman who seeks love, a sister of a brother who committed suicide, a child of a mother who treated her badly before dying when Hayle was still a child, and an ex-cop. So, she solves the case, but also deals with her own issues, and both elements work well.
After this, I'm looking forward to read more of the series. The series has altogether 8 books, and currently six of them are available as ebooks, as books 3 and 6 are for some reason unavailable.
SPOILER
As the plot develops, two of the women are revealed to have been in love, even though they have also relationship(s) with men, so there is an LGBTQ+ element to the mystery, too.
November 22, 2021
While cleaning out old e-mails I found a quote by Valerie Wilson Wesley on a list of quotes from books I read. Clueless as to why I did not mark down the book title to go with this quote:
"...only those who hurt know how to give comfort."
I believe the story I read was "Devil's Gonna Get Him." I do remember reading about an African American PI and the description of the second book in the Tamara Hayle series sounds familiar. The title and color of paperback book would have prompted me to pick this book up off library shelves, even tho' I almost exclusively read hardcover books.
Now that I have rediscovered the series I will be looking for more title by Valerie, although I am not sure the Allentown PA library will have the same selection as found in Long Beach CA.
"...only those who hurt know how to give comfort."
I believe the story I read was "Devil's Gonna Get Him." I do remember reading about an African American PI and the description of the second book in the Tamara Hayle series sounds familiar. The title and color of paperback book would have prompted me to pick this book up off library shelves, even tho' I almost exclusively read hardcover books.
Now that I have rediscovered the series I will be looking for more title by Valerie, although I am not sure the Allentown PA library will have the same selection as found in Long Beach CA.
April 14, 2022
Quick, easy and enjoyable like I like 'em. I'm very slowly reading through Valerie Wilson Wesley's Tamara Hayle series because I love suspenseful, thrilling mysteries led by Black women sleuths, and Wilson Wesley's writing has been my jam since the late '90s/early 00s.
There were a few things that happened in this second installment that made me bristle a bit, but I chalked it up to the black respectability politics of the time. Outside of that, I liked this breezy mystery, and jumping back into Tamara Hayle's world was a great feeling. The dialogue between Tamara and her friends (and enemies) is authentic, funny, and very nostalgic.
Looking forward to picking up book 3 in a few months.
There were a few things that happened in this second installment that made me bristle a bit, but I chalked it up to the black respectability politics of the time. Outside of that, I liked this breezy mystery, and jumping back into Tamara Hayle's world was a great feeling. The dialogue between Tamara and her friends (and enemies) is authentic, funny, and very nostalgic.
Looking forward to picking up book 3 in a few months.
July 18, 2022
While I still liked Tamara as a character, this book wasn't in par with the first one. Many of the suspects weren't that interesting. The plot started slowly but ended quickly. I also missed the rapport between Tamara and her son and her friend/crush. I'll still be reading the next in the series though.
May 3, 2025
really good (but bleak) 90s-ish noir. a heavy focus on the main character's interiority
July 9, 2022
I love Valerie Wilson Wesley's writing! Plus nostalgic memories of old Newark! A particularly wonderful read. There are more?
Read this by the author: https://crimereads.com/valerie-wilson...
Read this by the author: https://crimereads.com/valerie-wilson...
July 9, 2018
good PI story in urban setting
October 4, 2018
Tamara Hayle is good people. Valerie Wilson Wesley is good writing.
Also, anyone missing Sue Grafton's Kinsey Milhone should check out this series.
Also, anyone missing Sue Grafton's Kinsey Milhone should check out this series.
October 29, 2018
I COULD NOT put this down.
April 20, 2019
I really enjoyed the story line in this book. I read the first in this series but couldn’t remember it. Picked this one up cheap. It makes me want to read others in this series
November 5, 2019
Huge fan of her novels always a good mystery to get into!!
November 28, 2020
Another enjoyable book in the Tamara Hayle series.
February 25, 2021
Great protagonist. Had a hard time believing the catering situation--bean dip?
June 5, 2021
There are some seriously twisted themes in here. Wasn't a fan of this second book, and I'm not very enthused by the writing or the story line.
June 18, 2021
Tamara Hayle is tough! I remember wanting to be her! Loved it!
Displaying 1 - 30 of 43 reviews