Chicagoan Tracy Clark writes what she knows. Part of a rich tradition, she stands on the shoulders of Black writers who led the way, even when they were the antithesis of mainstream. In a recent essay, she rounds up Black detective novels “from then until now.” These black writers, these pioneers, did the heavy lifting.…
There have been black writers writing black detectives since the beginning of the 20th century. There were black Holmes’ and black Marlowes and black Marples, policemen, amateur sleuths, and private eyes, coexisting with their “mainstream” counterparts almost since the beginning of modern crime fiction, but they were ignored, unseen, unpublished. These black writers, these pioneers,…
Borrowed Time by Tracy Clark is second mystery featuring Cassandra Raines, the former Chicago cop turned private investigator, who looks into a suspicious death as a favor to a friend—and makes some powerful enemies. Cassandra Raines is a former cop turned private investigator, her personal life is “complicated,” and she is blessed with having a…
