When I read and reviewed Dead Dead Girls by Nekesa Afia earlier this year I closed out the review by saying I wasn't sure I would continue with the series. Well, guess what I found when I did a deeper dive into my backlog of ARCs on my Kindle? Yeah, Book 2 in the series, Harlem Sunset. I really need to exhibit some self-control and not request multiple books in a series on Netgalley before I even read the first book 🙄.
This book picks up where the first book left off. The Girl Killer has been dispatched, Louise is now working at her friend Rafael's club, The Dove, and she's moved into a new apartment with Rafael's sister, and her longtime girlfriend, Rosa Maria. They're celebrating Louise's 27th birthday at the club when in walks Nora Davies. Nora was one of the girls Louise rescued when she was abducted by The Girl Killer as a teenager. After the club closes the group settles in for some after hours drinking, only to discover they've been drugged. When they all wake up Rosa Maria is covered in blood and Nora is dead. Louise just knows that Rosa Maria couldn't kill anyone, but the cops lack imagination and have the group in their crosshairs. Louise puts her investigator's hat back on and starts digging.

Let's start with the good - I do think this was a better executed book. The pacing issues I had with Book 1 are ironed out more here. Louise continues to be an interesting character with some complicated edges to her and we learn a bit more about her family (she's estranged from her father) in this book which adds more depth. Also, while I found Rosa Maria annoying in Book 1, she's not so bad here - maybe I'm softening in my old age? - and the Prohibition Harlem setting continues to be interesting.

What doesn't work so well? While the pacing issues are cleaned up, I still found the author's tendency to jump ahead in the narrative timeline a bit ragged. It's like she takes us from Point A to Point C while speeding past Point B. This kind of thing always gives me whiplash as a reader.

This is also a book that does not stand-alone well as so much of the story hinges on events detailed in Book 1. For that reason reading Book 2 ahead of Book 1 essentially "spoils" the entirety of Book 1 - so something to keep in mind if you're entertaining starting this series. It really needs to be read in order.

And ultimately, that leads me to my biggest issue with this book - Louise is pretty dense. Given her life experiences (abducted at 16, in the cross hairs of a murderer in Book 1), you just expect her to be more jaded and not so trusting. I clocked the Bad Guy the minute they waltzed on page and remembered enough minor details from Book 1 that I even had the motive unraveled before Louise catches a clue. And this is a character she just implicitly trusts from the jump.

In the end, while I do think this is a better book in some ways over the first one, I'm left with pretty much the exact same reaction. I didn't hate it, but there wasn't much here to inspire me to keep going. Thankfully Past Wendy exhibited some control and did not download the ARC of Book 3 from Netgalley.

Final Grade = C+

Found some of the characters boring and no personality, and the main character was too naive to be believable. The plot was also too predictable.

I was really excited to get to be back with Louise and continue her story. I felt that this sequel really gave us more of our previous characters, though I still found myself frustrated at Louise at times. Rosa Marie is still the best character.

The murderer was not a surprise, but I am not sure that was the goal for the writer. The story is atmospheric and Nekesa Afia really knows how to make it easy for her readers to visualize the story. These are just fun stories with wonderful characters and serious discussions. This was a fast read and the ending makes me excited to pick up the next one.

Louise Lloyd is back as the reluctant and severely unqualified citizen detective when her girlfriend, Rosa Marie, is framed for the murder of Nora Davies. The sequel to Dead Dead Girls set in Harlem in the 1920s opens with Louise celebrating her birthday and then waking up with Nora dead and Rosa Marie covered in blood. So, naturally, it is Louise's responsibility to solve the case.
I had the same issues as I had in the first book where Louise's character just does not convince me of any kind of detective skills: she is naive, careless with her trust, and I found her to be terribly annoying as a MC. The killer was obvious from the onset, including motives, and opportunity. Overall, quick read with a gorgeous cover but with lackluster main characters and plot.

Afia's second outing with their Harlem Renaissance mysteries featuring former kidnap victim turned night-club manager turned amateur sleuth Louise Lloyd. Louise is now the manager of her friend Rafael's nightclub and is also seeing Rafael's sister, Rosa Maria. While celebrating Louise's birthday after closing hours at the club, they are joined by a girl who was once a kidnapping victim with Louise. After falling asleep at the club, they come to the next morning and find the girl dead and the clues pointing to Rosa Maria as having something to do with it. Louise is determined to prove that Rosa Maria is being framed and heads straight into sleuth mode, with all the danger a black woman faces when trying to clear her hispanic girlfriend's name in 1920s Harlem (so much racism and misogyny), while keeping the not-so accepted relationships around her under wraps (there are many LBGTQ+ relationships & characters).

Louise, her friends, and the other characters she interacts with are all flawed and very real, you can sense the frustrations and tensions around race, gender, and the danger of same-sex relationships while still getting a good sense of hope and resolve from each of these characters. They're all aware that they are sometimes walking a dangerous path but they won't back down to not be who they are. Afia's world-building and characters are both rich and full while also being subtle at times. I'm looking forward to another entry with this group of characters.

I'm so late writing this review, but that's because I save Nekesa Afia's books for when I need them. I know I'm going to lose myself for at least a day or a handful of days, just devouring the writing. So I saved Harlem Sunset for now, until I needed it, and I'm simultaneously so grateful and so upset with myself for waiting so long. At least I got to spend this time with Lou again.

I wanted so much from this book and it didn't deliver.

What I wanted:

-Specific historical references 1920s Harlem like performers and the clubs (not just made-up ones)
-An honest reflection of how the Black and queer folks viewed America and why becoming an ex-pat was a choice for many. I do think Nekesa Afia did a great job at showing the queer struggle but the discussion of race was lacking
-Varied sentence structure. After reflection on why this story dragged on -- there are several reasons, but the main one was that it was boring reading the back-to-back simple sentence structure of subject-verb-object. I also thought that the introspection of the main character was repetitive throughout the novel without new insights each time. It left me really struggling to finish the book.

I genuinely enjoyed the first book in this series and was disappointed in the follow-up. I think it was a stepping stone for what's to come in this series so that leaves me hopeful that we see the heroine re-find her spunk.

Harlem Sunset follows up Dead Dead Girls, taking us back to 1920s Harlem, where Louise Lloyd again finds herself in the crosshairs of a mystery and a murderer. It follows closely on the heels of book one, wisely asking us to consider the hovering miasma of trauma around Louise after the life-or-death situations she confronted. The mystery has important subtext, and the author keeps a steady eye on how Louise's identity as a Black queer woman influences her experiences and investigation. Unfortunately, the narrative felt like a step down from its predecessor.

In terms of Louise's detecting, it's a disjointed plot: people just automatically share information or Louise happens on clues without needing a lot of cleverness or moxie to get there. The readers don't get to know her thoughts and unravel them with her. Random characters are introduced without fanfare and removed just as fast. They lack depth or even momentary flair, just names that come and go. The identity of the murderer is glaringly obvious, both on the basic level and when it comes to the big picture of who they are, so there isn't a feeling of intrigue to keep things mysterious.

The meaningful conversations started around Louise's personal life muddying the thread of the investigation while not getting anywhere themselves. There are seeds of a story about Louise's problems with her family that are planted and then abruptly solved or abandoned. The thing I found most frustrating in terms of her character is that despite Louise's earned wariness from her experiences, it still feels like she trusts everyone she meets, or puts her life in others' hands even if she doesn't trust them. It lands her in some bad situations that don't even seem to have much potential upside compared to the risk.

A couple trigger warnings that will be spoiler-y, so proceed with that in mind: There is a cheating plot. There is a public outing in the news as part of a revenge plot, including personal photos taken without permission. Louise then faces religious-based homophobia within her family, has to publicly deny the claims that she is a "deviant" to protect herself and her girlfriend, and feels chased out of her home. These sections were hard to read, so take care of yourselves, alphabet mafia.

I wish I had better feelings toward this book, which has an impressive premise. But in its execution, I found the negatives outweighed the positives for me.

Louise Lloyd is ready to put her crime fighting days behind her. But when she and her friends wake up after passing out late at their favorite speakeasy to find a dead body, Louise finds herself and her girlfriend Rosa Maria to be the police's prime suspects. If she wants to prove their innocence, she has to find out what clues everyone else is missing.

I really enjoyed reentering Louise's world in this sequel to Dead Dead Girls! This series lives at just the right spot between cozy and dark mysteries. It's fun to read and super atmospheric. I hope we get another book of Louise's adventures!

This is the second book in the Harlem Renaissance series, and note that I have not read the first one. Louise Lloyd is back and I want to point out that I did not feel lost in reading this out of order but clearly she is established as the main character so no set up had to be done. The book is set in 1920s Harlem New York, where being a young queer black woman is clearly illegal and so Louise has to hide who she is, all while trying to solve a murder she is the prime suspect in. I enjoyed this one, the writing was well done and I liked how the author put the character through all of the situations but she held her own throughout. This is not quite a cozy mystery in my opinion but is not a psychological thriller either, it is more in the middle of the two and as I said, the characters had depth which I loved. I'm glad I read this one and am curious to go back and read the first one in this series now.

I also listened to this one via audio and it was very well done, I enjoyed it this way and would recommend the audio if you can do it via this medium.

Thanks for the free audiobook PRH Audio! And thank you to NetGalley and Berkley Books for the digital copy to review.

I've been wanting to read this series since I saw the cover of the first book and was not disappointed!

What I enjoyed the writing style of the author. She was able to weave so much into this mystery. Family, lifestyles, the expectations of Black women and so much more. But this is a murder and it must be solved and Louise is just the person to get it done. I truly enjoyed her character, so complex and well written. This author does an amazing job of world building. I'm such a fan of this era and Nekesa Afia did an amazing job in her descriptions of Harlem and its people.

Bottom line, read this series. I highly recommend it for fans of murder mysteries and the Renaissance era.

This novel, second in the Harlem Renaissance Mystery series, is a continuation, not a standalone. Not having read Dead Dead Girls first, it took a while for the characters and plot to become clear in my mind; in addition, the culprit from the first book is (surprise!) named in Chapter 2. Nonetheless, I found myself drawn into the life of Louise Lloyd, manager at the Dove, a popular nightclub in 1927 Harlem. Things should be looking up for Louise: besides her job, she just moved in with her girlfriend, Rosa Maria Moreno, and loves dancing the night away in a bright red dress and heels. But despite having solved the Girl Killer case, Louise remains haunted by its resolution. Also, after being kidnapped as a teenager, she had saved herself and her fellow victims and still deals with the resulting fame and trauma.

Afia presents a credible portrait of a young Black woman striving to overcome PTSD and reclaim her life. Then Louise’s situation becomes more troublesome. On the morning after her 27th birthday celebration, Louise awakens on the floor of the Dove next to her friends, with one of the girls she’d rescued years ago—who she’d just met again the night before—stabbed to death alongside them. To the cops, Rosa Maria appears guilty, so Louise turns detective to clear her lover’s name.

The pace is snappy, the historical atmosphere cleanly evoked without excessive detail. As Louise ponders a motive, she combs through the dead woman’s past as well as her own. This novel works better as a character-centered crime novel than a traditional amateur sleuth tale, since the mystery plot gets digressive and has some implausible aspects. Louise’s friends and family members are an intriguing bunch with realistically drawn relationships, though, so much so that I find myself eager to pick up Dead Dead Girls to see them again—even knowing whodunit.

(From the Historical Novels Review, August 2022)

In the late 1920’s Harlem is the place for great nightlife, jazz, dancing and more. Louise is the new manager of a club owned by her friend Rafael who is the brother of Louise’s girlfriend, Rosa. They are going to celebrate Louise’s birthday when Nora joins them. It’s to be a night of drinking and talking ending up in falling asleep. When they wake up Nora is dead and Rosa is covered with blood. Did Rosa kill her or was she framed? Louise believes that Rosa didn’t do it. Who did it?

The author recreates the 1920’s Harlem with characters and lifestyle of the time. It is a multi-faceted plot. The story has twists and turns that starts moving in a breathless suspenseful historical mystery. It enthralled me in spite of being the second in a series. I was initially afraid that I might be missing something since it was the second book as I had not read the first book in this series. This is a novel that works well as a stand-alone.

I loved the first book Dead Dead Girls so much that I knew I would enjoy the follow up. Nekesa is really carrying on the tradition of Walter Mosley and Barbara Neely , esp setting this mystery at the beginning of the heart of the Harlem Renaissance yet it really talks about modern themes (.e. Louisa's struggles with her sexuality and Rosa, PTSD, etc)

I cannot wait for Ms Afia's next book.

With the horrors of the Girl Killer behind her, Louise Lloyd is eager to usher in her 28th year with her girlfriend and best friend by her side. When one of the girls Louise was kidnapped with, reintroduces herself, Louise is wary to connect. By the next morning, Nora will be dead, Rosa Maria Moreno covered in her blood, and no one can remember what happened.

Harlem Sunset is a suspenseful, and engaging historical mystery! Louise is a likeable character; she's smart and witty but flawed and is figuring out who she is. The author did a nice job of bringing the characters and the period of time to life. The clubs, the dancing, the language! It was easy to picture! So far the series is turning out to be a fun and entertaining adventure!

I didn’t realise this was the second in a series, but I enjoyed it enough that I’ll be picking up book 1 and looking forward to book 3 if there is one.

After reading and unexpectedly loving Dead Dead Girls, I’ve been highly anticipating this book!

This story focuses on Louise’s personal journey and growth from previous events. We are introduced to some of her family members and I appreciated the backstory. The story also touches on how Louise couldn’t be free when it came to her sexuality and her relationship with Rosa Marie. As a Black woman she already had two strikes against her so she had to stay in the closet and you could feel her internal struggles with it all.

As far as the mystery goes I was able to figure out the killer and the motive was kinda predictable. Overall it was still an enjoyable read and hopefully there will be another book!

This one picks right up where the last one leads off, and it’s so seamless in the transition into this new story! This one continues with themes of identity, race, and family dynamics with the backdrop of NYC in the 20’s.

Louise is such a lovable and fearless heroine, and I really enjoyed the continuation of her story!

I listened to Dead Dead Girls (book 1) last year and really enjoyed it, so I was excited to get a copy of this one!

Second books tend to be a little rough for me for the most part. I didn’t love this one as much as the first, but I did enjoy getting to know the characters a bit more. The 1020s New York setting definitely shined through - this book will make you want to dance the Charleston all night at the speakeasy.

Louise Lloyd is an empowered character. I loved the relationship between Louise and Rosa Maria. Their relationship is sensual. There is also a knowing that they can't really be together. With an array of characters, the drama, action, and mystery increase for the story to build. I look forward to what Nekesa Afia creates with this story.