Three months ago, on a snowy December night, 34-year-old Summer Spencer vanished from the rooftop of the Harlem brownstone in which she lived with her twin sister, Autumn. There were no signs of a struggle—just a single set of footprints leading up to the edge—and the police have yet to find a body. The detective on the case claims he’s doing everything he can, but Summer knows the truth: “Women of color don’t matter in America unless [they] are rich or famous.” The girls’ parents are dead and their remaining family lives in Illinois, leaving Autumn to investigate on her own. She spends her days distributing fliers and her nights reading news stories about murdered black women. As her obsession deepens, she begins neglecting her work, her friends, her boyfriend, and her health. Autumn insists she’s incapable of moving on when half of her is missing, but while uncertainty torments her, the truth may prove her undoing.
Boldly drawn characters and a strong sense of place distinguish this sinuous, slow-burning fusion of mystery and literary fiction from acclaimed author and true-crime expert Kalisha Buckhanon (Upstate). Poetic prose and an intimate first-person narrative engage as Buckhanon uses Autumn’s search to tackle themes of race, culture, identity, gentrification, and the far-reaching effects of systemic racial injustice. A jaw-dropping reveal resolves the central puzzle relatively early on, but the sisters’ story beguiles and intrigues all the way through to the insightful, hope-filled epilogue.
"For me, the books I read were the call—the call to adventure, to thinking, to acknowledging other points of view. But to complete the ritual, I needed to respond."
I am surrounded by books. Every room, every space in my large, sprawling 1750s house is full of books...
Our history and experiences can define us, inspire our actions, and as writers impact our words and stories. Mine most definitely has: my father was a small-time gangster. Really.
"My ah-ha moment came when I read The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald.... That was it for me – I was off to the races."
Nietzsche once wrote, “There is always some madness in love. But there is also always some reason in madness.”
"Mystery books were daring and exciting, firing up my imagination and making me yearn to become a girl detective or even a secret agent. They also empowered me to make up impromptu ghost stories around the campfire for my Girl Scout troop and sneak into the cemetery at night on a dare."
Fire and Ashes, the latest Angela Richman Death Investigator mystery, is an exploration of a fatal fire. To research this novel, Viets delved into the devastating consequences of junk science and arson investigations.
