A dying gangster's plea sends Joe King Oliver on a quest for a missing woman across America's coasts--unraveling a dark and violent family history along the way--in this new novel from Walter Mosley.
A tightly wound, bicoastal noir ... Features a plot that is somewhere between grand opera and a telenovela with a jazzy soundtrack ... The female characters are all strong and interesting, representing a wide variety of ages and backgrounds.
A complex tale of murder, betrayal, grisly violence, and riotous sex ... Mosley’s PI may be flawed, but his heart is kind and his reflections are insightful. The supporting cast is armed and dangerous but also quirky and personable. This installment of King Oliver’s adventures will have readers clamoring for number five in the noir series.
Mosley, witty and incisive, is in the zone in the fourth King Oliver novel, following Been Wrong So Long It Feels Like Right (2025), lingering over the fashion choices, build, and temperament of each intriguing character; choreographing match-point dialogue and down-to-the-wire showdowns, paying tribute to the transporting beauty of jazz, relishing the absurd, and exploring the interplay of family and crime.
