We are back in person!
Does a good mystery capture your interest? After you
have read this month’s choice, join us for a great discussion. Each month we
will read a new title from the mystery genre.
New members are always welcome.
In October, we are discussing Harlem Shuffle by Colson Whitehead. This title is available as an ebook or audiobook from Download Library.
Registration Required
Weather permitting, the book club will be meeting in the Sheriff John
Motz Courtyard.
Ray Carney was only
slightly bent when it came to being crooked ... To his customers and neighbors
on 125th street, Carney is an upstanding salesman of reasonably-priced
furniture, making a life for himself and his family. He and his wife Elizabeth
are expecting their second child, and if her parents on Striver's Row don't
approve of him or their cramped apartment across from the subway tracks, it's
still home. Few people know he descends from a line of uptown hoods and crooks,
and that his façade of normalcy has more than a few cracks in it. Cracks that
are getting bigger and bigger all the time.
See, cash is tight, especially with all those installment plan sofas, so if his cousin Freddie occasionally drops off the odd ring or necklace at the furniture store, Ray doesn't see the need to ask where it comes from. He knows a discreet jeweler downtown who also doesn't ask questions. Then Freddie falls in with a crew who plan to rob the Hotel Theresa--the "the "Waldorf of Harlem" - and volunteers Ray's services as the fence. The heist doesn't go as planned; they rarely do, after all. Now Ray has to cater to a new clientele, one made up of shady cops on the take, vicious minions of the local crime lord, and numerous other Harlem lowlifes.
Thus begins the
internal tussle between Ray the striver and Ray the crook. As Ray navigates
this double life, he starts to see the truth about who actually pulls the
strings in Harlem.
Can Ray avoid getting killed, save his cousin, and grab his share of the big score, all while maintaining his reputation as the go-to source for all your quality home furniture needs?