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A review by nonna7
All I Did Was Shoot My Man by Walter Mosley
5.0
The fourth Leonid McGill novel by Walter Mosley proves once again that Mosley is really one of our finest novelists. If you haven't read any of the Leonid McGill books in the past, it's not that difficult to dip into the series at #4. Leonid is a private detective with a "bent" past who is trying to make up for his past misdeeds. He has done some downright criminal things and is always being watched by the police, but always manages to elude them.
In an excellent NPR interview and discussion of the book, it is referred to as a "book of atonement." That's exactly what it is. McGill is feeling guilty for having helped set up a woman named Zella who shot (non-fatally) her boyfriend when she found him in bed with her best friend. A woman McGill has done some work for in the past asks him to plant some incriminating evidence in Zella's storage locker. As a result her sentence is a lot longer than it would have been, plus she is forced to give up her child. Now McGill is trying to help her through his attorney.
Of course there are ALWAYS complications, and this one's complications just keep multiplying. I love Mosley's language and this book is no exception. "Men were trying to kill me, but so what? I was reborn. A born-again agnostic risen from the ashes of faith." THIS kind of writing is why I LOVE Walter Mosley!
In an excellent NPR interview and discussion of the book, it is referred to as a "book of atonement." That's exactly what it is. McGill is feeling guilty for having helped set up a woman named Zella who shot (non-fatally) her boyfriend when she found him in bed with her best friend. A woman McGill has done some work for in the past asks him to plant some incriminating evidence in Zella's storage locker. As a result her sentence is a lot longer than it would have been, plus she is forced to give up her child. Now McGill is trying to help her through his attorney.
Of course there are ALWAYS complications, and this one's complications just keep multiplying. I love Mosley's language and this book is no exception. "Men were trying to kill me, but so what? I was reborn. A born-again agnostic risen from the ashes of faith." THIS kind of writing is why I LOVE Walter Mosley!