After the uneven If 6 Were 9
(2001), a blend of murder mystery and academic satire, Lamar makes a new start in the crime field with this well-constructed novel, set in Paris's 18th arrondisement between Montmartre and Pigalle with its whores, pimps and transvestites. Ricky Jenks, an African-American jazz pianist who plays in a cafe, is besotted with Fatimah Boukhari, a French Muslim who will love and marry only another Muslim. Ricky's troubles begin when his flashy and hated cousin, Cassius "Cash" Washington, arrives in Paris. A successful orthopedic surgeon who ran off with Ricky's bride the night before the wedding, Cash needs help in finding his current wife, Serena. Ricky reluctantly agrees to search for Serena, but he gets some confusing and inconsistent answers when he starts asking Serena's friends about her. When he finds the body of a prostitute in his apartment building's vestibule, Ricky becomes a suspect in her murder. The crime-solving, however, is incidental to the book's real strength, its characters. The author casts a tough, critical eye on his cast of mostly black middle-class expatriate Americans, whose interactions he so deftly depicts. Mystery fans may feel shortchanged, but mainstream readers fond of Paris should feel fully satisfied. (Nov. 24)
FYI:
Lamar is also the author of a memoir,
Bourgeois Blues; a thriller,
The Last Integrationist; and a mainstream novel,
Close to the Bone.
