I Found This Great Book

Dedicated to the discovery and promotion of mysteries and classic literature by Black authors. Episodes include featured mysteries, interviews, and discussions of books and short stories.

Tracy Clark Talks About Her New Mystery "Hide" 03/12/2023

A Conversation with Mystery Author Faye Snowden 06/15/2022

Discussing Comedy: American Style by Jessie Redmon Fauset with Tonia Ransom from The Nightlight Podcast 02/03/2022

A Conversation with Mystery Author Nicole Glover 11/23/2021

A Conversation with Alverne Ball – Mystery and Graphic Novel Author 11/11/2021

Discussing "The Chinaberry Tree" by Jessie Redmon Fauset with Mollie and Dani of Black Chick Lit 09/23/2021

The Shoemaker Murder by George Schuyler - Featured Mystery Short Story 09/21/2021

The Shoemaker Murder by George Schuyler - Featured Mystery Short Story The Shoemaker Murder can be found in the anthology “Spooks, Spies, and Private Eyes” edited by Paula L. Woods. A collection of mystery, crime, and suspense fiction by Black authors. You can purchase you own copy of this anthology by going to . The Shoemaker Murder is a locked room mystery set in Harlem in the early 1900s. Johnson, the shoemaker, lies dead on his shop floor. He was hit brutally in the back of the head with a hammer. The door of the shop was locked from the inside, the transom was nailed shut, and everyone around the shop swore that no one entered or existed the shop before and after the murder. Detective Sergeant Henry Burns oversees the case. A tall Black man with a keen eye for details. He begins questioning everyone in proximity of the scene of the crime and thoroughly inspects the building. He discovered a possible way in the shop but how did the murderer exit without leaving a trace and leave all the doors locked from the inside? Detective Sergeant Burns strikes upon the answer, brings his suspect in for questioning and sets a trap that leaves the murderer no choice but to confess. This is a quick read and overall, an enjoyable story. It is not the most complex locked room mystery you will read. It helps if you are familiar with the types of access points homes in the 1900s would have had. You definitely see how Detective Sergeant Burns has a gift for observation and deductive logic. When he explains how he knew who to bring in for questioning it will make sense. This story is significant because of its author. George Schuyler is a noted writer of the Harlem Renaissance and beyond. Known for his scathing articles and fiction, which exposed corruption and fraud among whites and blacks. I first became aware of Mr. Schuyler from his book, “Black No More.” This book satirizes American racism, and no one is safe from his biting wit. Schuyler was also the author of several mysteries and crime fiction that were published under his name and pen names. “Black No More” is widely available but many of his other works are a little harder to find. In the 1930s, he wrote some of the earliest known political thrillers by a Black author. I found one collection of these political thrillers on archiver.org. Another collection of stories “Ethiopian Stories” is harder to find and can be quite expensive. Let’s hope as these works become part of the public domain they can be reprinted and made available for all people interested. His autobiography is widely available. where he details his life as a conservative. /episode/index/show/talkingwithauthors/id/20545700

Discussing The Conscience of the Court by Zora Neale Hurston 09/21/2021

Teddy Hayes - Featured Mystery Author 09/21/2021

Since You Went Away by Frankie Y. Bailey - Featured Mystery Short Story 08/26/2021

Discussing Hurricane by Zora Neale Hurston 08/25/2021

Jake Lamar - Featured Mystery Author 08/25/2021

Discussing "Plum Bun" by Jessie Redmon Fauset with Alicia - The Pretty Brown Eye Reader 08/15/2021

Discussing High John De Conquer by Zora Neale Hurston 08/08/2021

Solomon Jones - Featured Mystery Author 07/28/2021

A Conversation with Cheryl Head – Author of the Charlie Mack Motown Series 07/21/2021

A Conversation with Nekesa Afia - Historical Mystery Author 07/13/2021

Discussing The Story of Harlem Slang by Zora Neale Hurston 07/13/2021

Discussing The Story of Harlem Slang by Zora Neale Hurston Published in 1942 in The American Mercury The original version of this story is titled “Now You Cookin’ with Gas Includes a “Glossary of Harlem Slang” which was originally call “Harlem Slanguage The narrator begins telling us about Jelly. A young man who is a pimp. Now in 1942 the team pimp did not mean what it means today. A pimp in this story was a man who lived off the kindness of women due to his ability to romance and seduce them. I guess we would use the term Gigolo now. The story starts with Jelly realizing that it has been a day or so since he had a free meal and his stomach was growling. As Jelly is on his way to find a working woman to gift him with a meal, he runs into a fellow pimp named Sweet Back on 132nd street. The two men engage in a battle of words and bluffs powered by egos that were not backed up by strength or money. The exchange between the two men is funny and tragic at the same time. The humor comes from the rhythm and poetry of the slang. The way they push up against the edge of a real confrontation while knowing that neither of them wants to really fight. Also, you realize early on that these two men are telling bigger lies that anyone ever told on the porch of Joe Clark’s store. The tragic part of the story is the fact that these two men are unable to live a life half as big as their egos. The fact that they plan to live off the kindness of women has its own serious issues, but the fact that they seem to be executing their plan so poorly adds another level of sadness to their lives. Hurston captures all this through the dialog between Jelly and Sweet Back. It really becomes apparent when they try to persuade a young lady who is passing by to join one of them for a meal. Of course, they needed her to pay for this meal. As you can expect, both men strike out. Sweet Back tries to save face by implying that the young woman was not worthy of him. Jelly on the other had has a moment of reflection about his former life down south and his life choices in Harlem. Both versions of this story are in “The Complete Stories” along with the two versions of the glossary. The glossary is a treasure to read on its own. While it was easy to grasp the meaning of the slang as you were reading, there were some words and phrased that stumped me. The glossary comes in handy. I loved this story, and I preferred the original over the published version. Hurston captured the life and energy of the sporting life men of Harlem in her dialog. While neither Jelly nor Sweet Back were noble men, you still feel slightly sorry for them. Very slightly. When reading this story, I could visualize these two men blowing smoke at each other knowing full well that they both had nothing to back it up. We see the same scene played out often in life when people will go through extraordinary measures to save face and protect their egos. I can recommend this story if you can put your 2021 mind on pause and see that Hurston is poking fun at male bravado. You will laugh at some parts and roll your eyes at others, but you will have an enjoyable read. /episode/index/show/talkingwithauthors/id/19791473