Aubrey Nye Hamilton Reviews: Dead of Winter by Stephen Mack Jones

I loved Loren Estleman’s series of seven historical mysteries set in Detroit. Whiskey River (Bantam, 1990), describing the raucous Detroit underworld during Prohibition, is on my list of all-time favorite pieces of crime fiction. Stephen Mack Jones took me back to present-day Detroit, although some things like corrupt local politicians never change. His protagonist August Snow is a former cop who lives in his childhood home where he fiercely protects the working-class neighborhood from drug pushers and attempts to exploit the disadvantaged residents.

In Snow’s third adventure Dead of Winter (Soho Crime, 2021), he’s approached by Ronaldo Ochoa, the owner of the Mexican food factory where Snow’s mother worked all her life, to ask him to buy the company. Ochoa is being pressured to sell by a Mr. Sloane who Ochoa fears will tear the buildings down, taking away the jobs of his employees. Snow doesn’t see himself as a purveyor of tortillas but he doesn’t like the way Ochoa is being treated so he agrees to look into Mr. Sloane’s plans. He finds smoke and shadows instead of a clear proposal of land ownership and intended usage with complaisant local officials prepared to look the other way for the right price. In no time his interest in the matter is noted and attempts to discourage it quickly escalate to hoodlums from New Jersey who specialize in removing obstacles.

While unofficial private investigators, shady land developers, and crooked politicians are nothing new, Snow offers a fresh spin on all three. His friends and neighbors are endearing, some of the strongest supporting characters I have seen for awhile. Amid the flying bullets and falling bodies, I was struck by the polished, visually arresting writing. The scene where Snow dies and meets his parents again is an entertaining and original take on the afterlife.

Like the relentless throb of a toothache the issue of race dominates the story. Skin color and associated social inequities overtly drive the behavior of many of the characters, reflecting the current depressing reality. Recommended.

Booklist Starred Review. New York Times Book Review Editors' Choice, Booklist Top 10 Crime Novel of the Year, 2022 Michigan Notable Book.

 

·         Publisher: ‎Soho Crime (May 4, 2021)

·         Language: ‎English

·         Hardcover: ‎312 pages

·         ISBN-10: ‎1641291028

·         ISBN-13: ‎978-1641291026 

 

Aubrey Nye Hamilton ©2023

Aubrey Hamilton is a former librarian who works on Federal It projects by day and reads mysteries at night.