canada_matt 's review for:

Darktown by Thomas Mullen

4.0

adventurous dark informative mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

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Thomas Mullen impressed me with his debut novel and now I’m eager to return for more. This time, we delve into post-war Atlanta, a hotbed of segregationist sentiment and Black suppression. While the city needs policing, it is apparent that there are issues that will require a less uniform race. Still, as Mullen addresses throughout, respect and equality are not present, leaving a small band of Black officers to struggle as they try to keep the peace in the city’s predominantly African American communities. A murder leaves some aghast, while others could care less, forcing a handful of cops to try to find justice amongst all the hatred. Thomas Mullen does it again, in this series debut, sure to be a hit.

While the Second World War ushered in a great deal of change, the race wars of America remained strong in the late 1940s. After being pressured to show a more integrated force, the Atlanta police hire their first Black officers in 1948. These men are trained, but there is a great deal of resentment towards them, both from their brothers in blue and by the general public, many of whom feel they are no better than the scum that wander the street. With significant limitations placed on them, this small group of Black officers try to swim against the current and keep parts of Atlanta safe that many others would not deign to visit.

Officers Boggs and Smith are two of these men, having grown up in Black America from vastly different families. Still, they share the inability to be taken seriously, while trying to patrol the streets of Darktown, the predominantly Black community. After a black woman turns up fatally beaten, her lifeless body triggers a memory in the two cops. They saw her recently accompanied by a white man and being slapped around. While this might trigger action in many other parts of the country, APD’s white officers could not care less, feeling that it is one fewer Black roaming the streets at night. As Boggs and Smith try to investigate, they are stonewalled by a wily cop named Dunlow, who has control of the streets and much of the APD force. 

As the story unfolds, Boggs and Smith learn more about the victim and determine that her past may have come up to bite her, though this is no reason to dismiss her murder as anything less than a crime. As Dunlow tries to shut down the operation, he makes it clear that these Black police officers should stand idly by and simply serve as window dressing, leaving the real work to the white majority, none of whom could care less about the murder. Still, there is something to be said about dedication and perseverance, including a determination to keep the streets free of crime, no matter the colour of someone’s skin. Mullen keeps the reader guessing in this novel, which touches on race relations, policing, and the need for colourblind justice, even in the Deep South. 

I am a great fan of historical fiction, particularly when mysteries are woven into it. Thomas Mullen has impressed me with what little of his I have read, always able to transport the reader back in time and touching on some of the issues of the day. Strong themes emerge in the solid narrative, which lays the groundwork for a stellar story, developing with each passing chapter. The characters are also highly important, fuelling the racial divide effectively and keeping the reader in awe of the treatment handed down by both sides.  Plot twists emerge, as in many other mystery novels, but they are all locked in race and cultural divisions, adding something new to the book that kept me flipping pages well into the evening. I can only hope the next book in this series proves to be as exciting, as I have so much more than I would like to learn, both about Boggs and Smith, as well as the growth or recession of Atlanta’s police force.

Kudos, Mr. Mullen, for laying the groundwork for a stellar series.

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