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Officers Lucius Boggs and Tommy Smith smelled her long
before that, long before they found her covered in garbage
in a vacant lot, dead just a few days. They immediately
recognized her as the woman they’d seen with former police
officer Brian Underhill, until she ran from them.
She’d been pretty once; young and light-skinned and there
was the problem: it was just after World War II, the mayor
had recently forced the Atlanta Police Department to hire
new policemen from the segregated parts of town, and racial
lines were drawn thick. Few in charge cared about the death
of some Negro woman. That the policemen who found her were
black, too, only added to the apathy.
Rookie Officer Denny Rakestraw had no issue with Negroes in
general, or with those now in the APD, but his partner,
Lionel Dunlow, sure did.
Dunlow was as racist as they come, and Rake figured that
having to patrol the edge of Darktown only boosted Dunlow’s
fury. Rake noticed that Dunlow, in fact, seemed to take
pleasure in torturing any Negro they saw on the streets,
including those who were only minding their own business.
As a rookie, Rake didn’t think it wise to make enemies but
he hated seeing that, just as he hated that Underhill seemed
to be getting away with murder and Dunlow was covering for
him. So when Rake learned that Boggs had decided on his own
to solve the Negro woman’s death, he offered Boggs a deal:
they’d quietly investigate what they could in their
respective racially-divided departments, and share their
information.
It would be dangerous.
Shedding light on a Darktown murder could end more than just
their careers…
Reading Darktown was a brand-new experience for me: I
wanted to wash my hands, my arms, my hair, to get rid of the
grit that pours out of this story. I could smell dirt and
thick air and rotting wood. I squirmed, before I dived in
for more.
It was impossible not to, because this novel is noir all the
way: author Thomas Mullen sets a tone of a rainy midnight
even in his daytime scenes, while the timeframe of the
story, mixed with an angry-yet-resigned neighborhood of
beat-down residents, just lends to the deliciously keen
edginess. As for the main characters, the
both-sides-of-the-same-coin frustration they feel simmers
throughout each page. You may begin to wonder if either man
makes it to the end of this novel.
I’m not about to be a spoiler – you’ll have to find that out
yourself. But know this: if you want a sandpaper read that’s
sticky as cold fog, Darktown is what to reach for
first. |
