Lesa's Book Critiques: KEVIN’S CORNER ANNEX – DOGTOWN: A WILLIE BLACK MYSTERY

 Lesa's Book Critiques: KEVIN’S CORNER ANNEX – DOGTOWN: A WILLIE BLACK MYSTERY

Review: Dogtown: A Willie Black Mystery by Howard Owen

It is early January 2021 as the latest in the Willie Black Series, Dogtown, begins. Covid is raging in Richmond, Virginia, and the newspaper industry continues its slow slide to oblivion. For now, Willie Black still has a job to do. He covers the crime beat, day or night, for the local paper. That means that the discovery of the body on a hill that gives a nice view of Richmond’s skyline is on his beat.

 

The dead white guy isn’t the first person to die in the new year. He just might be the first to die by savage slash to the throat. A cut so vicious it almost took his head off. He is also probably the first to lose a finger after death.

 

He won’t be the last.

 

The murder of a 58-year-old plumber will the first of several linked killings over the next days and weeks. Reporter Willie Black chases the story and its ramifications because once again the police have the wrong suspect in custody thanks to heavy pollical pressure. As the murders continue, he chases the story against the backdrop of Covid and its effect along with ongoing societal issues in Richmond.

 

This is the latest solidly good installment of a series that does not get near enough attention. Societal issues of various types along with the slow ongoing demise of the newspaper industry servs as the background to numerous instances of murder in this series. More than once, those factors lead to the arrest and incarceration of the innocent and poor.

 

Such is true here in Dogtown: A Willie Black Mystery.

 

While it is always recommended by this reviewer to read in order, the allusions to previous events and stories in this book are minimal. That means that with the majority of the read referencing current events in January 2022 with a minimum of backstory, one could safely read this one first if so desired.

 

Either way, Dogtown: A Willie Black Mystery by Howard Owen is a solidly good read.

 

My reading copy was an ARC sent to me by ‎ The Permanent Press last Fall with no expectation of my review. 

 

Kevin R. Tipple ©2023

Review: Jordan's Branch: A Willie Black Novel by Howard Owen

It is early September 2019 as Jordan's Branch: A Willie Black Novel by Howard Owen begins. Reporter Willie Black knew that Stick Davis has been dead for quite a while when he sees the body. More than half a dozen times somebody shot the man. Once someone had thoroughly through ventilated Stick David, he or she left, and now Willie Black has found the body.

 

Finding the body is seen by some as proof that he did it. The fact that the man still owed Willie forty-five thousand to write his autobiography gives him motive in the minds of some folks. The fact they have a long history and got along does not seem to play into those considerations.

 

For most in journalism, it is a recognized fact that the reporter should never be part of the story. For Wille Black, he is very much part of the story. His bosses at the steadily shrinking paper do not like that fact or the fact that he is a suspect. That includes the current publisher, Ben Stine, who has a few thoughts about that issue and others.

 

As long-time readers know, this isn't the first time Willie Black has been suspected of a crime by the police. Over the years, he has made his bosses wonder more than a few things about him. One would think by now that all involved would know better.

 

Willie Black knows that he has to investigate to clear his name. It does not take Willie long before things start escalating. Playing fast and loose with the questions might get him killed.

 

The latest in this long running series is another solidly good read. Jordan's Branch: A Willie Black Novel by Howard Owen brings back a number of characters long familiar to readers in a read filled with societal observations and commentary. Those societal observations serve as background while never getting in the way of the main mystery of Jordan's Branch: A Willie Black Novel.

 

Strongly recommended. 

 

 

Jordan’s Branch: A Willie Black Novel

Howard Owen

http://www.howardowenbooks.com

The Permanent Press

https://thepermanentpress.com/collections/new-releases/products/jordans-branch-willie-black-mystery-10

February 2021

ISBN# 978-1579626433

Hardback (also available in digital format)

232 Pages

 

I received a PDF of the book from the publisher with no expectation of a review.

 

Kevin R. Tipple ©2021

Review: Evergreen: A Willie Black Mystery by Howard Owen

It is New Year’s Day in 2018 as Evergreen: A Willie Black Mystery by Howard Owen begins in a way that is very familiar to many of us of a certain age. Between his bladder and the cat sitting on his chest, sleeping much past eight in the morning is proving impossible. While hosting a party at your own place solves the transportation issue, there is one heck of a mess to clean up on the morning after. Cleaning up and thinking about having to go work at the paper later gets pushed aside when Richard Slade calls.

Richard Slade and Willie Black have a complicated history familiar to readers of the series. In the here and now, his mother, Philomena Slade, is in the hospital and is not doing so well. According to Richard Slade, she wants to tell him something important about Artie Lee.

Artie Lee was Willie Lee Black’s father and he died a little over a year after Willie was born.  Peggy never talks about him and Wille knows next to nothing except that he was African American. Back in 1960, African Americans and Caucasians could not legally marry. The simple act of dating was frowned upon by a significant portion of society. That belief that the races should not mingle extended to the child of such a union. That reality has been a major part of Willie Black’s entire life.

As it turns out, Philomena Slade has been quietly maintaining Artie’s grave in a local cemetery that has been nearly forgotten in the mists of time. All she wants is for Willie to maintain the grave site after she passes. A simple request that is far more complicated than it first appears. Now that he has been told of the grave site, something he has never known until now, all Willie wants is to learn all he can about his father and what happened that fateful night decades ago. That night and his death changed everything for everyone.

Willie Black digs into the past in a quest to find out what happened long ago. His mother, Peggy, refuses to talk about it so he has to talk to others who were around at the time and know what happened. Getting folks to talk is not easy and it soon becomes clear that what he thought he knew all these years was not true. History and race relations have always been a subtext if not a main theme of this series and such is the case here as Willie unearths hard truths that some would much prefer left buried in the past.

Evergreen: A Willie Black Mystery by Howard Owen is the latest published installment of a complex and very good series that began with Oregon Hill. This is not a static series. Characters age, people die by the hand of man or natural causes, and relationships evolve and change, so it is strongly recommended that readers start at the beginning and work their way forward. Additionally, this read contains frequent references to past events and are detailed enough to be considered spoilers. 

My review copy came by way of the Bachman Branch of the Dallas Public Library System shortly before the shutdown in mid-March due to the pandemic. Next in the series is Belle Isle which I have here in my print TBR pile after my ongoing reviews of this series came to the attention of the publisher.

Kevin R. Tipple ©2020

Review: Scuffletown: A Willie Black Mystery by Howard Owen

Scuffletown: A Willie Black Mystery by Howard Owen is the seventh book in The Willie Black Mystery Series that began with Oregon Hill. For readers new to this series, this is a series that is best read in order as the characters age, relationships change, and much like in the real world, the past is always present and not always in a good way.

It is a lovely afternoon in early April as the book opens and Scuffletown Park is about to be in the news in a big way. A small park surrounded by homes and apartments, it is where Willie Black and the first of four wives started their lives as young married people. Based on the amount of blood splashed across one of the brick walkways, something did go down the night before. The cops had been called out around midnight for a fight of some sort. Upon their arrival, there was nobody in the park. They certainly did not find a body in the dark park and never saw the blood on the bricks. With no body and no signs of a struggle or anything amiss, they soon packed up and moved on to other crimes in the city.

It was not until this morning, a Thursday, that it became clear something bad had gone down in the old park. A jogger cutting through by way of the alley that runs down on side of the park called the cops after he saw the massive amount of blood on the brick stones. Despite a thorough search and spending hours at what clearly is a crime scene, the police still do not have a weapon, a body, or any evidence of an actual crime.

That soon changes when a video, taken by a resident, suddenly turns up. A video that clears shows Willie’s friend and roommate, Abe Custalow, clearly standing over what appears to be a dead man. Almost everyone at the paper, on the police force, and at various local watering holes, knows that Abe has a bedroom in Willie Black’s condo unit. Abe is family and that has not changed. What has changed is that he is now a suspect and the police are looking hard for him. Abe has a criminal record, one that is far more complicated than it would appear from a dry read of the facts. Willie is absolutely positive that Abe did not do this no matter what one can see on a video.

Even though, from the start, Abe wants nothing done on his behalf, Willie begins digging into what Abe has been doing lately and what could have happened in the park. Even though Abe and almost everybody else wants him to stay out of it, reporter Willie Black is not about to stop in his quest to save Abe from himself. Before long he is risking his job, his life, and even his friendship with Abe to prove that his old friend did not do the crime. He does so because the past always matters.

This installment of a complicated series is yet another very good read. While the primary storyline is the case as outlined above, there are ongoing secondary storylines at work that continue previous events from earlier books. The result is another complicated read of complex characters, family drama, and plenty of mystery.

This is a really good series and one that should be read in order. Scuffletown: A Willie Black Mystery by Howard Owen is highly recommended.

The series to this point and my reviews:

Oregon Hill (June 14, 2019)

The Philadelphia Quarry (July 19, 2019)

Parker Field (September 2019)

The Bottom (October 4, 2019)

Grace (November 15, 2019)

The Devil’s Triangle (January 10, 2020)

My reading copy came from the Timberglen Branch of the Dallas Public Library System.

Kevin R. Tipple ©2020

FFB Review: The Devil's Triangle: A Willie Black Mystery by Howard Owen

While it could be argued that this book was published too recently to qualify as an FFB review entry, it came out a couple of years ago and here is where the reviews of the series started. Therefore, we continue today. The Devil’s Triangle by Howard Owen is the sixth book in a great series that started with Oregon Hill. This is a series that should be read in order. For more reading suggestions, make sure you head over to Todd Mason’s Sweet Freedom blog.

It is April 2016 as The Devil’s Triangle: A Willie Black Mystery begins. A local bar that was a watering hole for Willie Black and many others was destroyed that Friday afternoon when a small plane crashed into it. The loss of life is many and that includes several folks from Kate’s old law firm who were known to frequent the place every Friday afternoon. One of the deceased in the flaming wreckage and rubble is Greg Ellis, who was Katie’s husband.

In the first hours and days of the fiery aftermath, it becomes clear that, despite all the public speculation, it was not domestic or foreign terrorism that rained massive destruction and death on the neighborhood. It was one man by the name of David Biggio who was the pilot and soul person on board the borrowed plane. A man that clearly had his own issues, but had no reason to target the building, the block, or anyone in the place. While several basic questions of the story have already been answered, the main question of why it happened is the angle that reporter Willie Black is chasing in The Devil’s Triangle: A Novel  by Howard Owen.

Like any good series worth reading, time passes and characters evolve in this mystery series. As in real life, characters in this series go through ups and downs as events happen.  This sixth book in the series continues the changes for Willie Black, his girlfriend, Cindy Peronie, and his ex-wife, Kate, among many others. The recurring theme that has been present since the start regarding the decline in the newspaper industry as well as the public cost of the lost journalism at the local and national level continues in this read.

At the core of each read is always the mystery that Willie Black is trying to solve which is the heart of the current story/case. As in the other books of the series, the mystery here is complicated and not at all easily solved. Doing so raises the risks for Willie Black. One really does not want to be Willie’s Black insurance agent.

The series that began so well with Oregon Hill continues on here, six books later, with The Devil’s Triangle. Another solidly good read by author Howard Owen and highly recommended. 

The series to this point and my reviews:

Oregon Hill (June 14, 2019)

The Philadelphia Quarry (July 19, 2019)

Parker Field (September 2019)

The Bottom (October 4, 2019)

Grace (November 15, 2019)

My reading copy came from the Skyline Branch of the Dallas Public Library System.

Kevin R. Tipple ©2020

Bookblog of the Bristol Library: The Bottom: A Willie Black Mystery by Howard Owen...

Bookblog of the Bristol Library: The Bottom: A Willie Black Mystery by Howard Owen...:   Guest reviewer Kevin Tipple is back with his take on this Howard Owen novel.  Check out his blog Kevin's Corner for more book rev...

FFB Review: Grace: A Willie Black Mystery by Howard Owen

FFB Review returns today with a series that I am enjoying very much. Grace: A Willie Black Mystery by Howard Owen is the fifth book in a great series that started with Oregon Hill. This is a series that should be read in order. For more reading suggestions, make sure you head over to Todd Mason’s Sweet Freedom blog.

The fifth in the series, Grace: A Willie Black Mystery, opens early in December 2014 a few months after the preceding novel, The Bottom. Kids have been vanishing for years from Richmond’s East End. Nobody has been doing much about it because of racism, the fact that kids come from poor families, or for some other reason. The bottom line is that young black kids have been disappearing for years now and Artesian Cole is the latest young boy to vanish.

But, this time is different as they have the child’s body. Despite being bagged and weighed down with rocks, Artesian Cole surfaced in the waters of a lake over in Bryon Park. In the fifth grade, he also attended an afternoon tutoring program at the “Children of God.” Local legend Sam McNish has been running the program for many years despite some opposition in the neighborhood who would rather see the property put to a better use as they see it.

The death of Artesian Cole soon causes the arrest of Sam McNish by the local cops. Not only is he subsequently blamed for the murder of Artesian Cole, he is publicly blamed for the disappearances of other children as well. A fact that does not sit at all well with Willie Black.

Reporter Willie Black is well aware that the evidence against McNish is barely better than fence line gossip. Having worked the police beat for many years he is also aware that often the local cops have it all wrong. Both these two factors push him to start investigating and digging into the case. As usual, his digging causes issues with local law enforcement as well as his bosses at the paper who would prefer him to accept the official line.

Grace: A Willie Black Mystery by Howard Owen builds on the previous books in the series. Along with the occasional references to previous books in the series, characters in this read continue to evolve and change. While one could read this one as the starting point, one could also go jump off the roof if one wanted to do so. It would be far better to avoid roof jumping as well as to start this very good series from the beginning, Oregon Hill.

The Series to this point and my Reviews

Oregon Hill (June 14, 2019)

The Philadelphia Quarry (July 19, 2019)

Parker Field (September 2019)

The Bottom (October 4, 2019)

Grace: A Willie Black Mystery

Howard Owen

http://www.howardowenbooks.com

The Permanent Press

http://www.thepermanentpress.com

October 2016

ISBN# 978-1-57962-434-7

Hardback (also available in audio and digital formats)

245 Pages

My reading copy came from the Central Downtown Branch of the Dallas Public Library System.

Kevin R. Tipple ©2019

FFB Review: The Bottom: A Willie Black Mystery by Howard Owen

FFB Review returns this first Friday with a series that I am enjoying very much. The Bottom: A Willie Black Mystery by Howard Owen is the fourth book in a great series that started with Oregon Hill. This is a series that should be read in order. For more reading suggestions, make sure you head over to Todd Mason’s Sweet Freedom blog.

As The Bottom: A Willie Black Mystery by Howard Owen begins, it is the middle of September 2013 and more than a year since Les Hacker was murdered. Peggy, Willie Black’s mom, is still devastated and deep in grief and so she is barely functioning. At least Peggy knows what happened and that the killer was caught and is receiving some sort of justice in a prison hospital.

For the family and friends of others justice in the form of catching the killer of their loved ones can be a very elusive thing. Such is the case for the families and friends of four young female victims and counting as a serial killer or killers are working the streets of Richmond. Every six months another young and homeless teen is brutalized, killed, and dumped to be found by the authorities. Each body founds has the same strange tattoo which has caused some in the media to refer to the “Tweety Bird Killer.”

The fact that there is a small thin connection to the latest victim and his own daughter, Andi, makes Willie Black more than a little concerned. The connection is innocent and Andi did nothing wrong, but it does mean the police are going to be interested in her and therefore in Willie. They are not the only ones interested in the actions of Willlie.

A former state senator, Wat Chenault, is leading a development project that promises jobs, an increased tax base, and all the other usual amenities that make those in power grant tax incentives and other goodies. The fact that much of what is promised can just as easily go away the way the contract is written for the developer is a troubling issue, but one that is being ignored by the proponents. The fact that the development project will make traffic on the surrounding freeway system way worse as well as the fact that the project would be constructed on the graves of slaves is being ignored in the rush for the all mighty dollar.

Then there is the history of the lead proponent. Walt Chenault has a bad history and some of that has come back to light thanks to Willie Black’s reporting on the new development. Litigation is being threatened against the paper as well as Willie Black. He knows the stories were accurate. He also knows that with corporate vultures circling the carcass of his slow decaying paper yet again, those in charge are the paper are not going to do much to support and defend him or his work.

This latest installment, The Bottom is another very good read in the Willie Black Mystery Series. Rich in scene setting details, numerous twists and turns, and the occasional sarcastic commentary power along the latest mystery. As the series progresses overall, characters are not stagnant and continue to evolve as does Willie Black’s attempts to be relatively sober and have a relationship. The read works on all levels. The Bottom: A Willie Black Mystery by Howard Owen, like the previous reads in this excellent series, is highly recommended.

The Series to this point and my Reviews:

Oregon Hill (June 14, 2019)

The Philadelphia Quarry (July 19, 2019)

Parker Field (September 2019)

The Bottom: A Willie Black Mystery

Howard Owen

http://www.howardowenbooks.com

The Permanent Press

http://www.thepermanentpress.com

August 2015

ISBN# 978-1-57962-392-0

Hardback (also available in audio, digital, and paper formats)

210 Pages

My reading copy came from the North Oak Cliff Branch of the Dallas Public Library System.

Kevin R. Tipple ©2019

FFB Review: Parker Field: A Willie Black Mystery by Howard Owen

For the full list of reading suggestions for this Friday in September 2019, head over to Todd Mason's Sweet Freedom Blog.

The third in the series, Parker Field: A Willie Black Mystery begins in April and with a gunshot. The weather cuts like a knife and feels more like the middle of March so nobody really should have been sitting on a bench in Monroe Park. Yet, somebody was out there and was shot. That park is just across the street from Willie’s apartment building. As he is the reporter for the crime beat, one of his several bosses at the paper sends him over to cover the story.

It isn’t until he is on scene and sees the victim that Willie realizes the man that was shot is Les Hacker. For all intents and purposes, the man is his father as he has had such a huge presence and role in his life in recent years. Not that they are related by blood, they are still family and he has been the best thing to ever happen to Willie’s mom, Peggy. Les Hacker has no enemies and yet somebody has deliberately shot him.

Answering the question as to who shot him and why seems to be a police matter so Willie is more than content to let them figure out the case as he spends time at the hospital. As many contacts and family friends begin to show up at the hospital, one is Jimmy Deacon, better known to all as “Jumpin’ Jimmy.” A man of nervous energy with a nearly constant ability to speak in the third person about himself, the man is intense. He is also a reservoir of knowledge regarding minor league baseball in Richmond, Virginia, and the surrounding areas. So, he knows a considerable amount of history regarding the last team Les Hacker played for, the 1964 Richmond Vees.

As Jumpin’ Jimmy explains it, Les Hacker isn’t the only one on the team to be shot. Fellow players Lucky Whitestone and Phil Holt were both victims of gun violence as well in recent years. They are not the only players who are dead before their time either.

The more he learns from Les when he is awake enough to talk and from Jumpin’ Jimmy, the more it seems that the shooting has to be connected in some way to that 1964 team. Many of whom who have died in the years since and often in violent ways long before their age and health issues would have naturally struck them down. Pitching the story to the newspaper bosses as a follow-up to the members if the 1964 team—a where are they now type piece--- gets Willie the freedom to chase leads as he starts trying to identify the motive of the shooter as well as that person’s identity. Hopefully, chasing the story won’t get Willie Black killed.

Third in the series behind Oregon Hill and The Philadelphia Quarry, Parker Field: A Willie Black Mystery is another very good read. All the established characters make return appearances. Some of those appearances result in discussions of past events. Plenty of mystery and the frequent flashes of sarcastic humor prevalent in the previous books are also present here. Parker Field: A Willie Black Mystery is another very good read in a series that should be read in order. 

Parker Field: A Willie Black Mystery

Howard Owen

http://www.howardowenbooks.com

The Permanent Press

http://www.thepermanentpress.com

July 2014

ISBN# 978-1-57962-361-6

Hardback (also available in audio and digital formats)

224 Pages

Material supplied by the White Rock Hills Branch of the Dallas Public Library System.

Kevin R. Tipple ©2019

Crime Time Review: OREGON HILL by Howard Owen

Crime Time : OREGON HILL – Howard Owen: Just because i t does n't take long to figure out whodunnit and whydunnit doesn't mean we can't call Oregon Hill a mystery....

FFB Review: The Philadelphia Quarry by Howard Owen

After a recent unplanned hospital stay and complications from that as I am still not back to my crummy normal, FFB here finally returns today with an all new review from yours truly. This is the second book in a series that started with Oregon Hill. This is a series that should be read in order. For more reading suggestions, make sure you head over to Todd Mason’s Sweet Freedom blog.

As we learned in the first book of this series, Oregon Hill, reporter Willie Black is not one to back off the story even when his bosses or the powerful elite order him to do so. While those in charge may think it is a character flaw, like his drinking, others would see it as his way of being principled when justice is being denied. The same is true in The Philadelphia Quarry where a wrongfully convicted man is once again arrested for a crime he did not commit.

In August 1983 in the good city of Richmond, Virginia, Richard Slade was arrested for the rape of sixteen year old Ashley Simpson. In May of 1984 he was convicted on little evidence and sent to prison. In the middle of January 2011, he was finally released when DNA evidence proved without a shadow of a doubt that he did not do it despite the fact that Ashley Simpson identified him as her rapist those many years ago. Her accusation was the main evidence against him at the time.

Did she make a horrible mistake or did she deliberately lie?

The Innocence Project may have successfully proven the point that Mr. Slade was innocent of the crime of rape, but nothing can restore Mr. Slade’s reputation in the minds of many or undo what Mr. Slade has gone through all these years in prison.  As he was held for a crime he did not do, his reputation took a beating over the years, in large part, due to scathing editorials that came out in the same newspaper that Willie Black works for as a reporter. The paper, through those editorials, has been very vocal in the belief that Mr. Slade was guilty and a threat to the community. Then, as in now, many people did not understand that editorial writers and news reporters share little in common other than being employed by the same paper.

Decades ago, reporter Willie Black worked the night crime beat and reported on the case from the start. All these years later he is back on that same crime beat and thus back on the story of Richard Slade and the victim, Ashley Simpson.  In the hours following Mr. Slade’s release, Willie Black is trying to do follow ups with the two principals and isn’t getting any traction with either one of them. Simpson and her well connected family want their privacy while Mr. Slade’s family sees Willie Black as the enemy thanks to the editorials from the paper.

He is getting nowhere at all and then everything changes. Within hours of Mr. Slade’s release, Simpson is shot and dies. Who has the best motive to kill her? A man recently released from prison after being convicted of a rape he did not do or somebody else?  Within hours of her death, Richard Slade is again arrested for a crime he did not commit. The elite and powerful close ranks and before long Willie is being asked to choose employment over chasing a story that is clearly going in a different direction than his bosses would like.  

The Philadelphia Quarry is a powerful sequel to Oregon Hill. It is a timeless crime fiction tale with plenty of twists and turns. Set in the twin dying worlds of journalism and newspapers, the read powers along at a steady clip while also delivering societal observations that are even more relevant today six years after publication. It is also a mighty good mystery read. 

The Philadelphia Quarry

Howard Owen

http://www.howardowenbooks.com

The Permanent Press

http://www.thepermanentpress.com

July 2013

ISBN# 978-1-57962-335-7

Hardback (also available in audio, digital, and paper formats)

240 Pages

Material was received and read by way of the Interlibrary Loan Program where a copy owned by the Rockwall County Library System was shared with the Dallas Public Library System.

Kevin R. Tipple ©2019