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abeth_parker 's review for:
Darktown
by Thomas Mullen
Living in the southern United States, I've always heard and seen a lot about the civil rights movement. But, this novel brought to light a story that I had never considered before: the first African American police officers in Atlanta during the late 1940s. They were truly in limbo. They were grudgingly accepted, but also mistreated by their fellow white police officers (they weren't even allowed to enter the main APD building alone). They were also widely mistrusted by their fellow African American citizens. Were they spies, traitors, sellouts?
The story follows an attempt by two of those first police officers trying to solve a murder. They had limited resources and were not allowed to formally investigate crimes (they basically just passed on information to white officers who took over the case). But, more often than not, if the crime occurred in "Darktown" and the victim was African American, no investigation every happened even if it was reported.
This book is not a genre that always intrigues me, but it was a good read, and realistic enough that it could almost read as nonfiction. I will be looking for other books by this author.
The story follows an attempt by two of those first police officers trying to solve a murder. They had limited resources and were not allowed to formally investigate crimes (they basically just passed on information to white officers who took over the case). But, more often than not, if the crime occurred in "Darktown" and the victim was African American, no investigation every happened even if it was reported.
This book is not a genre that always intrigues me, but it was a good read, and realistic enough that it could almost read as nonfiction. I will be looking for other books by this author.