cover image STORMY WEATHER: A Charlotte Justice Novel

STORMY WEATHER: A Charlotte Justice Novel

Paula L. Woods, . . Norton, $24.95 (320pp) ISBN 978-0-393-02021-2

The suspicious death of respected black film director Maynard Duncan, a pioneer in his field, stirs up passions throughout the minority community's upper-middle-class enclaves in Woods's intriguing take on Old Hollywood from the African-American perspective. Detective Charlotte Justice finds herself more involved than she might like when the LAPD's elite Robbery-Homicide division gets the call. Having grown up in a family connected to the movie business, she feels that the investigation should receive the attention the victim's position and accomplishments deserve. Discovering the darker side of Tinseltown as she sorts through the events involving Duncan's wife and sister, the caregivers, the help, associates and even her own people, Charlotte is consumed with breaking down the reserve she senses in his family and friends to get at the truth. In the process, she confronts some of her own demons, coming to terms with the deaths of her husband and daughter (1999's Edgar-nominated Inner City Blues) while going up against the male superiors who make things rough for women on the job. And then there's the broad-shouldered Dr. Aubrey Scott, who's quite clear about his feelings for her. Woods explores the discrimination and exploitation of an earlier time and how they have evolved, as well as their long-lasting influences into the present in this savvy glimpse behind the celluloid curtain through the eyes of one very determined young woman. (Aug. 6)