| Reviewed by DL
BROWN
“So you want to know about Orson Welles
and me.”
So begins Steven P. Jones’ debut novel, THE KING OF HARLEM , featuring Sassafras
Winters, a retired Chicago cubs pitcher—and sometimes PI.
As a favor to a pal (and because he needs the dough) Winters agrees to act as a bodyguard
to rising young director Orson Welles who happens to be directing an all-Negro production
of MacBeth for the WPA in Harlem. Welles has been receiving death threats from the angry
community due to the misconception (promoted by the local Communist party) that the
production will be Shakespeare in black face.
This is all historical fact and makes for fascinating reading, although Jones'
story-telling is occasionally blindsided by his extensive research, especially in the
first half of the novel. The skillful blending of fact and fiction is never an easy task,
and Jones has his hands full—but his enthusiasm for his subject and his appreciation
for the traditional detective novel is contagious.
And Sassafras Winters makes a good possibility for a future PI series star. The bodyguard
gig soon becomes something more serious when one of the cast, Ben Kanter, is arrested for
the murder of a white socialite who was living with Kanter’s ladylove. It’s up
to Winters, and his sidekick valet (known as “Chinaman”) to clear Kanter and
keep Welles in one piece before the curtain goes up (or comes down) on MacBeth. This is a
detective duo created very much in the classic mold—and Jones does a good job of
capturing that particular character dynamic.
Though the mystery hinges heavily on one of those grand old plot chestnuts (in keeping
with the mood and tenor or the sub-genre), and though it is a bit slow moving in places,
THE KING OF HARLEM is an original and amusing introduction into what may prove to be a
great new PI series.
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DL Browne
is the author of MURDER IN PASTEL.
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