Product Description

A dazzling collection of crime and mystery stories, Shades of Black is a landmark achievement. Bringing together today's brightest talent from the field-from Walter Mosley, "one of America's best mystery writers" (New York Times), to the late Hugh Holton, whose "gift for retaining suspense is golden" (Chicago Sun-Times)-it is the first anthology of African-American mystery writers. Shades of Black is not only a tribute to the art of storytelling-it's a fascinating foray into the rich and widely varied African-American experience.

Includes stories by:

Frankie Y. Bailey - Jacqueline Turner Banks - Chris Benson - Eleanor Taylor Bland and Anthony Bland - Patricia E. Canterbury - Christopher Chambers - Tracy Clark - Evelyn Coleman - Grace F. Edwards - Robert Greer - Terris MacMahan Grimes - Gar Anthony Haywood - Hugh Holton - Geri Spencer Hunter - Dicey Scroggins Jackson - Glenville Lovell - Lee E. Meadows - Penny Mickelbury - Walter Mosley - Percy Spurlark Parker - Gary Phillips - Charles Shipps

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #291336 in Books
• Published on: 2004-02-03
• Released on: 2004-02-03
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 368 pages

From Publishers Weekly
Talking about African-American mystery writers, editor Bland says, "In my opinion, the most significant contribution we have made, collectively, to mystery fiction is the development of the extended family; the permanence of spouses and significant others, most of whom don't die in the first three chapters or by the end of the novel; children who are complex, wanted, and loved; and even pets." And while some of the 22 stories in this excellent anthology are as hard as nails and as noir as a night in Thompsonville (such as Gary Phillips's "Beginner's Luck," which stars Chainey, his no-nonsense former Las Vegas stripper, and Walter Mosley's short, pungent "Bombardier"), most of them do have a strong sense of family. Bland's own "Murder on the Southwest Chief," written with her 15-year-old son, Anthony, has her suburban Chicago cop Marti MacAlister using her sons' journals to solve a crime. Frankie Y. Bailey's "Since You Went Away" is another corking railroad yarn, featuring Lizzie Stuart's grandfather, a Pullman porter, in a tale of jealousy and sexual repression in 1946. The feeling of extended family includes a tribute to the late Hugh Holton, a Chicago police captain and prolific mystery writer, by historian Lerone Bennett Jr., even though Holton's own entry, "The Werewolf File," is a dark and rather bloody tale. Some of the other contributors' names may be new to casual mystery readers, but part of the pleasure of this wide-ranging volume is welcoming them to the family.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist
For a collection touted as "the first anthology of African-American mystery writers," one would have hoped for tougher editorial oversight. It's mystifying why Bland (who includes a decidedly bland Marti MacAlister mystery written with her 15-year-old son) would feature the elliptical Walter Mosley story "Bombardier," for instance, rather than any number of more noteworthy Mosley efforts. Readers also might be puzzled to find what appears to be an open-ended snippet of a novel--with no further explanation--from the talented Grace F. Edwards as well as a few stories clearly not ready for print. Thankfully, there's enough top-notch stuff here to recommend this groundbreaking collection anyway. Gems include Chris Benson's "Double Dealing," a crackling tale of an undercover reporter's investigation into the inner-city drug trade; a grisly supernatural mystery from the late Hugh Holton; Tracy P. Clark's whimsically fun PI character study, "For Services Rendered"; and a compelling tale of murder at a women's shelter by Dicey Scroggins Jackson. Frank Sennett
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

About the Author
Eleanor Taylor Bland is the author of ten mysteries featuring female African-American homicide detective Marti MacAlister, most recently Windy City Dying.

Customer Reviews

Like a literary Jackie Robinson!
It is about time an anthology of black writers came out. It has been shameful these authors have lived in the shadows of mainstream mystery and suspense authors, be the white authors "huge names" or amateurs (like me!) writing Cozies. My father used read Himes in the 1950s, but I did not know this until my mother and I obtained this anthology. Himes was a contemporary of Chandler and Hammett, and just as good! Kudos to women Bland, Woods, Edwards. I am always impressed with gum-shoe writer Phillips' work, and Mosely is stellar as always. Notable also was thrill/suspense man Chambers, who was shocking yet very, very interesting. Frankly, nobody in this bundle of stores disappoints me, and avid readers should note that these stories aren't about "ghettoes" or rap music or sex. They are about great mystery writing, and I think we're all enriched by them.

Entertaining
This delightful twenty-two short story collection is written by African-Americans though some of the writers are not household names yet. The stories are all solid with no losers, but only a handful attain the great label such as Walter Mosley's thought provoking take on the use of the race card. In fact the better known authors like Mr. Mosley, the late Hugh Holton, Frankie Y Bailey, and Gar Anthony Haywood provide the best tales. Much of the remaining stories are well written, but seems a bit formulaic yet fans will enjoy the contributions while getting a glimpse of the future. Look forward to see how far African-Americans have come (especially this group of authors) in a decade when one compares editor Eleanor Taylor Bland today to what she was writing ten years ago. It is interesting to see who was writing then and how many more have joined the rapidly growing community. SHADES OF BLACK: CRIMES AND MYSTERIES STORIES BY AFRICAN-AMERICAN WRITERS contains reliable tales that entertain the audience.

Harriet Klausner

Uneven , poorly edited--yet entertaining collection
Shades of Black: Crime and Mystery Stories by African-American Authors is an uneven yet entertaining collection of stories all penned by African-American authors, some well known, other fairly obscure.

Not all of these are "mystery" stories in the traditional sense. Some of the "mysteries" here cover issues as mundane as a missing dog. Others are "mysteries" mainly in a cultural context, as is the case with Walter Moseley's contribution, "Bombardier". It's all in all a very diverse collection that, in total, ought to have something among the 22 submissions that would appeal to virtually any reader.

If there can be said to be an underlying theme to these stories it would be, generally speaking, an examination of the underlying forces of society, relationships and personality that motivate one toward the life of crime. If that's the question, the fact is the answers-to the extent there really are any-are all over the board.

The writing throughout is universally good. The proofreading and editing, by Eleanor Taylor, is slipshod and uneven. One is left with the sense Ms Taylor didn't so much edit this collection as assemble it. While this is often a source of mild irritation it doesn't detract in a serious way from enjoying the book.

In the end one is not so much moved by the mysteries presented as by the wit, superstitions, mores, aphorisms, attitudes and-most keenly-the shared experiences of the authors, specifically as it relates to the minority experience in America.

All in all, a very good diversionary, beach type of read.