Named for Joe 'King' Oliver—Louis Armstrong's New Orleans mentor—this King is a former NYPD cop who was framed and sent to rot (temporarily) at Rikers. He is now a PI, supporting his daughter Aja-Denise (yes, pronounced Asia, like the Steely Dan masterpiece) who works as his assistant.
King is approached by a woman who wants a man freed from prison, a man who shot two dirty cops in self-defense. King suspects that the men who framed him (he was investigating a dockland drug case) may be part of the plot to frame the radical journalist who killed the cops. Thus, he investigates the case-for-hire and his own case simultaneously. He does this with the help of a crazy criminal named (yes) Melquarth Frost, who takes on the role of the 'avenging angel'—the indestructible sidekick/stone killer who is a common figure in the genre.
This is a rock-solid novel by an MWA grand master. I had the opportunity to interview Walter Mosley at the Smithsonian nearly 30 years ago when he was several books into the Easy Rawlins series and I have followed his distinguished career with interest and enthusiasm.
This is top-notch stuff. Whether it should have received the novel-of-the-year Edgar award can be debated. In the days ahead I will be reviewing the best-first-novel and best-paperback-original awardees and I look forward to comparing them with DOWN THE RIVER UNTO THE SEA.
The high points of the story are its central characters and its realization of the NYC setting. WM knows whereof he speaks. I identified one of the central villains early on, not because it was telegraphed directly, but because WM is an expert on the genre and utilized its themes and patterns in a way that was just a tad too familiar.
Still: 5 stars and, I hope, the beginning of a new, winning series.
While this was not a Chandlerian narrative filled with bon-mots and unforgettable expressions there were two jaw-dropping passages, both on the same page:
"It was like the dawn of a morning after the death of a beloved king. Everything was beautiful but salted with the sorrow of his passing." (p. 176)
"She just gazed at me like a land-bound Midwestern farmer seeing the sea for the first time." (p. 176)
That, as we say, requires the master's touch. How many crime writers will quietly echo Keats on Chapman's Homer?
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Reviews with images
Edgar-worthy!
Mosley has created a fabulous character in Joe King Oliver and, as ever, provided candid insights into African American life in the process. The dialogue creates vivid characters you care about and the conclusion is stunning and satisfying. This should be a slam dunk for the Edgar Award!
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Reviewed in the United States on May 1, 2019
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Top reviews from other countries
marsha l. reid
Superbly written and poweful - transcends the genre of the detective/crime novel - a must read
Reviewed in Canada on March 17, 2018
MarkHenryC
Rich, evocative and compelling
Reviewed in Australia on September 5, 2019