BOOK EXCERPTS
Explore the gritty underbelly of the glittering Harlem Renaissance. Read excerpts from the Lanie Price series and other crime fiction by Persia Walker.
Lyrics of a Blackbird
Civil rights attorney David McKay returns from the dead to uncover the truth about his sister’s brutal death. His search reveals a world of lies, hypocrisy, and tragic betrayal. But each step toward the truth also brings him closer to ruin. How soon before his enemies find out what he's been doing all these years? Before they uncover his own bitter secret—the sin that could destroy him?
Read Excerpt
Shards of Betrayal
For Lanie, it was supposed to be a routine assignment. Interview director Seth Carter, a maverick in the world of race films. He's daring to do the unthinkable: depict hard issues on the silver screen. But then, Lanie is steps away when a giant spotlight crashes down, nearly killing his wife. Turns out, there have other "accidents." Someone means to do whatever it takes to kill his movie. How long before sabotage turns to murder?
Read Excerpt
Dear Sister Dead
Vera Kincaid had everything to live for. The wife of a wealthy preacher man, she was smart, beautiful, and popular. But lovely wives often have dark secrets, and Vera was no exception. In Harlem's sanctified circles, virtue is currency—and sin can cost your life. When Lanie Price investigates the death of her friend, she uncovers the secrets a preacher's wife took to her grave. For Vera, forbidden love had deadly consequences.
Read Excerpt
Backdrop to Murder
The victims: a handsome photographer and a Cotton Club beauty, found dead together in the back of his studio. The suspect: the dead man's wife. Found weeping over his body, her wails of regret condemn her on the spot. Can Lanie stop an innocent woman from getting a date with the electric chair—or is this innocent woman not so innocent after all?
Read Excerpt
Black Orchid Blues
Lanie witnesses the brutal kidnapping of a nightclub singer. Then a gruesome "gift" arrives at her door. What does this kidnapper want—and how many people is he willing to kill in order to get it? Evil hides behind the genteel façades of respectable Strivers’ Row and stalks the ballroom of one of Harlem’s most famous gay parties.
Read Excerpt
Goodfellowe House
A lovely and gifted pianist vanishes on a snowy night in New York City. Then a million-dollar heist hits her patron’s home. Coincidence or conspiracy? The case goes cold until the missing woman's family turns to Lanie for help—and she starts digging for answers someone would kill to keep buried.
Read ExcerptTHE HARLEM RENAISSANCE MYSTERIES