Valerie Wilson Wesley, Author , illus. by Scott Nash. Hyperion/Jump at the Sun $15.99 (128p) ISBN 978-0-7868-0465-8
In this snappy novel, her first book for children, Wesley (author of the Tamara Hayle mystery series for adults) introduces a sincere and big-hearted heroine. Seven-year-old Willimena ("Willie") Thomas has a big problem: she earned $25.75...
READ FULL REVIEW
Valerie Wilson Wesley, Author . Morrow $23.95 (320p) ISBN 978-0-06-018883-2
A slick ladies' man is forced to reconsider his philandering ways in this mature, believable romance. After more than 15 years of friendship and casual sex, 35-year-old painter Medora Jackson finally kicks her womanizing so-called boyfriend, art
READ FULL REVIEW
Valerie Wilson Wesley, Author . Ballantine/One World $24.95 (222p) ISBN 978-0-345-49271-5
The desperate search for a missing child makes Newark PI Tamara Hayle's eighth outing (after 2005's Dying in the Dark
) a chilling, thought-provoking read. Gold-digging Lilah Love gave Tamara $30,000 years earlier after some shady doings...
READ FULL REVIEW
Valerie Wilson Wesley, Author Scholastic $13.95 (138p) ISBN 978-0-590-45606-7
A less convincing variation of Maizon at Blue Hill (see review of Between Madison and Palmetto , above), this novel similarly introduces an African American scholarship student at an exclusive, almost all-white boarding school. Nia's painful...
READ FULL REVIEW
Valerie Wilson Wesley, Author Avon Books $6.99 (288p) ISBN 978-0-380-72908-1
Newark PI Tamara Hayle's Jamaica jaunt becomes a working vacation when she is entangled in a murder. (June)
READ FULL REVIEW
Valerie Wilson Wesley, Author Avon Books $6.99 (288p) ISBN 978-0-380-72492-5
In this continuation of the Tamara Hayle series, the African American ex-cop, now a PI, is hired by a powerful client who shortly thereafter drops dead. (June)
READ FULL REVIEW
Valerie Wilson Wesley, Author Putnam Adult $23.95 (208p) ISBN 978-0-399-14617-6
What looks like a simple case--tracing a teenage runaway--has PI Tamara Hayle not only frustrated but ultimately terrified in her sixth outing (after Easier to Kill) in this strong ethnic series. Dominique Desmond, second wife to the scion of one of
READ FULL REVIEW
Valerie Wilson Wesley, Author Putnam Adult $19.95 (221p) ISBN 978-0-399-13949-9
In her adult fiction debut, Essence magazine executive editor Wesley introduces a decisive, independent PI and single mother as heroine but sets her in a transparent, formulaic plot. Tamara Hayle, a divorced ex-cop, and her 14-year-old son, Jamal,...
READ FULL REVIEW
Valerie Wilson Wesley, Author Putnam Adult $19.95 (212p) ISBN 978-0-399-14027-3
Wesley, Essence magazine's editor-at-large, brings back Tamara Hayle, the sharp-witted, warm former New Jersey cop now a Newark PI, in an atmospheric sequel to Death Comes Stealing. Wealthy black Newark mover and shaker Lincoln Storey hires Tamara...
READ FULL REVIEW
Valerie Wilson Wesley, Author Putnam Publishing Group $21.95 (208p) ISBN 978-0-399-14145-4
Newark PI Tamara Hayle, last seen in Devil's Gonna Get Him, narrowly survives her Kingston, Jamaica, vacation despite her dangerous propensity for talking to strangers. Tamara only reluctantly accompanies giggly fellow tourist Lilah Love to a seedy...
READ FULL REVIEW
Valerie Wilson Wesley, Author Putnam Publishing Group $21.95 (207p) ISBN 978-0-399-14318-2
The fourth outing of Newark, N.J., PI Tamara Hayle (Where Evil Sleeps, 1996, etc.) is driven more by Wesley's obvious compassion for the people of inner-city Newark than by her plotting. Tamara, a black single mother, agrees to look into the murder...
READ FULL REVIEW
Valerie Wilson Wesley, Author Putnam Adult $23.95 (208p) ISBN 978-0-399-14445-5
Wesley again fashions an engrossing plot driven by the problems and multilayered culture of Newark, N.J.'s African American community (No Hiding Place, 1997). Tamara Hayle, former cop and now a PI, is hired by Mandy Magic, a popular black talk-radio
READ FULL REVIEW
Valerie Wilson Wesley, Author One World $22.95 (222p) ISBN 978-0-345-46806-2
Tough, smart Tamara Hayle makes her One World debut in Valerie Wilson Wesley's steamy, homespun Dying in the Dark: A Tamara Hayle Mystery. Haunted by the spirit of her recently murdered high school friend Celia Jones, the single mom and head of...
READ FULL REVIEW
Valerie Wilson Wesley, Author, Sharon Wilson, Illustrator Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing $16 (32p) ISBN 978-0-689-80269-0
A small Texan town's Juneteenth celebration in 1943 is the setting for Wesley's (Where Do I Go from Here) resonant picture book, which offers a penetrating perspective on the degree of liberation the holiday commemorated in the pre--civil rights...
READ FULL REVIEW
Valerie Wilson Wesley, Author, Maryn Roos, Illustrator Jump at the Sun $3.99 (88p) ISBN 978-0-7868-1322-3
The star of Willimena and the Cookie Money kicks off the first book in the Willimena Rules series with another runaway pet tale, How to Lose Your Class Pet by Valerie Wilson Wesley, illus. by Maryn Roos. The spunky third-grader, determined to win
READ FULL REVIEW
Wade Hudson, Author, Veronica F. Ellis, Author, Valerie Wilson Wesley, Author Just Us Books $12.82 (1p) ISBN 978-0-940975-21-7
The charm of this unassuming, engaging picture book rests in the tongue-in-cheek parallels between the daily labors of parents and offspring. The youngster here is an African American only child; the adults are active, serious professionals--father...
READ FULL REVIEW
Valerie Wilson Wesley. Kensington, $15.95 trade paper (240p) ISBN 978-1-4967-2778-7
Widow Odessa Jones, the psychically gifted narrator of this strong series launch from Wesley (the Tamara Hayle series), can see glimmers, auralike colors that correspond to a person’s emotional state. Odessa works at Risko Realty, a cut-rate real...
READ FULL REVIEW
