hist-fict

Atlanta 1948. På ena sidan tågrälsen ligger det rika, vita grannskapet och på andra sidan ligger Darktown. Här bor nästan bara afroamerikaner och det är detta område som stadens första svarta polisstyrka får i uppdrag att bevaka.

När en fattig svart kvinna mördas i Darktown efter att ha setts tillsammans med en vit man är det ingen som bemödar sig om att hitta den skyldige. Förutom Boggs och Smith, två svarta poliser med skilda bakgrunder. De kommer att riskera både sina jobb och sina liv i jakten på mördaren.

Atlanta PD hires its first Black officers in 1948 to relieve some political pressure, but their authority means little, even on the streets of their own beat: they can’t arrest white suspects, they can’t have a squad car, and they’re not even allowed in police HQ; instead, they operate out of the basement of the local Y.
Black officers Boggs and Smith come from very different backgrounds but are navigating the frustrating limitations of their new career together as partners. When a Black woman last seen in a car with a white man in their neighborhood is found fatally beaten, it isn’t a huge priority for the white cops to investigate. Boggs soon learns that the fact that they witnessed the victim in the car of a white man has been erased from the report he wrote that night - and it isn’t long before he learns the man is a former police officer. The partners put their lives on the line to investigate the young woman’s death, pitting them against officer Dunlow, a racist old school cop who is looking for any way to pin a crime on the PD’s newest recruits. Dunlow’s young partner Rakestraw isn’t ready to make waves but he is willing to make allies across the racial divide in order to bring down a dirty cop.

Darktown is an incredibly atmospheric historical fiction / crime novel, capturing the era and racial tension in the city as well as complex character relationships brilliantly. ( )

Bra mix av spänningsroman och amerikansk historia. Det är en skrämmande människosyn som förmedlas på ett väldigt trovärdigt sätt. Bra driv i berättandet och jag ser fram emot en eventuell fortsättning. ( )

This is becoming my favourite kind of book, a period mystery that brings the past to life. In this case the setting is Atlanta in the 1950s, and the book focuses on the first black officers in the Atlanta PD. The book has a duo at its centre - two young officers, one black, one white, both trying to balance their jobs, their consciences and the political realities of the world they live in. They're believably flawed and the mystery as it unfolds is satisfying and credible. All in all a really enjoyable read and a fascinating glimpse into the past. ( )