Following the much-acclaimed Inner City Blues, a journey through Los Angeles's mix of politics and police corruption, secrets and lies. Los Angeles is in the midst of rebuilding in the aftermath of the Rodney King riots when Detective Charlotte Justice of the LAPD's elite Robbery-Homicide division takes on a high-profile case. The victim is pioneering black film director Maynard Duncan, a show business contemporary of her father. Charlotte, fueled by a desire to see the job done right and out of respect for a great man's memory, plunges badge-deep into the murky relationships between the director, his family, caregivers, business associates, and an elusive young man who seems to hold the key to unlocking the crime. Even when storm clouds gather, Detective Justice won't give upputting her career, her personal relationships, even her own life on the line.

The award-winning first book in the series featuring black LAPD homicide detective Charlotte Justice. Meet Detective Charlotte Justice, a black woman in the very white, very male, and sometimes very racist Los Angeles Police Department. The time is 48 hours into the epochal L.A. riots and she and her fellow officers are exhausted. She saves the curfew-breaking black doctor Lance Mitchell from a potentially lethal beating from some white officers—only to discover nearby the body of one-time radical Cinque Lewis, a thug who years before had murdered her husband and young daughter. Was it a random shooting or was Mitchell responsible? And what had brought Lewis back to a city he'd long since fled? Charlotte's quest for the truth behind Cinque's death will set her at odds with the LAPD hierarchy, plunge her into the intricacies of everything from L.A.'s gang-banging politics to its black blue-bloods, and lead her into deep emotional waters with Mitchell's partner (and her old flame), Dr. Aubrey Scott. In Charlotte Justice, Paula L. Woods has created a tough, tart, but also vulnerable heroine sure to draw comparisons to such classic figures as Easy Rawlins and Kinsey Milhone, but a true original as well. Winner of the Macavity Award for Best First Mystery Novel from Mystery Readers International.

Designed to meet the needs of high school students, undergraduates, and general readers, this encyclopedia is the most comprehensive reference available on African American literature from its origins to the present. Other works include many brief entries, or offer extended biographical sketches of a limited selection of writers. This encyclopedia surpasses existing references by offering full and current coverage of a vast range of authors and topics. While most of the entries are on individual authors, the encyclopedia gathers together information about the genres and geographical and cultural environments in which these writers have worked, and the social, political, and aesthetic movements in which they have participated. Thus the encyclopedia gives special attention to the historical and cultural forces that have shaped African American writing. - Publisher.

Readers of this Critical Companion will discover the richness of Mosley's writings, as well as his contributions to the African-American literary tradition, the genres of detective writing and science fiction, and American literature in general. Mosley's influences, inspirations, obstacles, and successes are presented in a richly drawn biographical chapter, which incorporates the author's most recent interviews. Mosley's first detective novel, Devil in a Blue Dress (1990), established a new voice in detective fiction, offering an African American perspective that resonated to a broad spectrum of readers. From his Easy Rawlins mysteries to his science fiction, Mosley invites readers into unexpected worlds and challenges his audience to think beyond their assumptions about society. Perhaps because he manages to link the trials of his characters to the enigma of the human condition, his prolific, genre-spanning work has met with both popular and critical success. This is the only book-length study of Mosley's fiction, covering eight of his key novels, including his most recent, Bad Boy Brawley Brown (2002). In addition to comprehensive plot synopsis, character portraits, and thematic discussions for each work, historical contexts are considered. Terms and concepts are clearly explained for the student and general reader. A select bibliography cites biographical sources, interviews, criticism, reviews, and related works of interest.