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A Review of Down the River unto the Sea by Walter Mosley


Well, Walter Mosley has done it again by introducing readers to a new and complex character, Joe King Oliver, a NYPD detective who was framed for a sexual assault by powerful enemies within the force. King is a flawed man who loves the ladies, jazz music (Thelonious Monk, Louis Armstrong, etc.) and books (Tolstoy and Hermann Hesse).

Since his release from Rikers, King (often called by his middle name) has started a detective agency (King Detective Service) and his “wise beyond her years” teenage daughter, Aja-Denise is his assistant. But every now and then thinking about his experience in Rikers “left an aftermath of isolation” and makes him realize how human connection especially with his daughter is very fragile. But he finds solace in the work he does as an investigative private detective.

So when he receives a letter from the woman confessing she was paid to set him up by the police, he decides to find out who was behind wanting him gone from the force and why. At the same time, he gets a case to investigate A Free Man, a black militant journalist of the Blood Brothers of Harlem who has been arrested for killing two police officers three years earlier and is now on death row.

This is where the story gets intriguing because although there is no direct nexus other than police involvement, King feels that if he finds a way to exonerate A Free Man (if he is innocent) then he would be exonerating himself. The twists and turns to get to the truth show Mosley’s mastery in creating a myriad of interesting characters (my favorite being the psycho killer, Melquarth Frost) and places (underbelly of New York) which pull you right into the action of the story. Greed, murder, drugs, mayhem, political favors and corruption are delved into with such sensory details that I couldn’t help but be invested in reading this novel with intensity until the end.

Definitely two thumbs way up! A must-read hard-boiled detective novel with a high dose of edginess and grit filled with memorable lines that will have you rooting for King to get to the truth of the matter by any means necessary!

Some of my favorite lines:

                “You coulda shot me. You coulda hit me in the head with a lead pipe. You sure as shit coulda testified that I had somehow mentioned the bank job. I know your bosses were mad when you didn’t lie.”

                Mel leaned forward, now with both hands on his thighs.

                “So you came here all the way from Illinois to thank me?” I asked.

                “I already told you,” he said. “I’m not goin’ back to prison. I came here to ply my old trade and to tell you that if you ever need a good turn I owe you a few.”

That was a very important nexus for me. It was rare for anyone to see in me what I saw in the mirror. Melquarth might have been a villain, but he was a villain with my number in his pocket.

Rating: 5 Stars  


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