This book. Oh, how I love this book. I will list the reasons and before I am finished you will have clicked “buy.”

One, the writing. I am a fool for rhythmic, stark prose. Aafia does not clutter her passages with anything more than what she needs to center the reader then punch them in the gut. Gorgeous and gives me chills.

Two, Lou. Oh, Lou, you tiny, tired lesbian. How I adore the way your brain works. Lou is older and wiser only in drips and drabs in this installment. Aafia doesn’t coddle her amateur sleuth, instead, she challenges her with a world always spinning off it’s axis and I loved watching Lou navigate through life with dry wit and an enormous heart.

Three, the setting. Harlem in the twenties. The clubs, the clothes, the slang – I wouldn’t want to live back then but Aafia does an excellent job of putting me there in this book.

Four, the plot. I gave up trying to guess who did it in mysteries a long time ago. I am just along for the ride, and I deeply enjoyed this one. Lou’s girlfriend is framed for murder and the resulting fallout is nail-bitingly compelling and wildly entertaining in the way that good mysteries can have you cringing and lunging forward at the same time.

Aafia has penned another winner and I cannot wait for the next in the series.