Capital BookFest - Largo, Maryland

Number 32

I got to rub it in. I’m still on vacation. Unfortunately, I have to get back to work on Monday. Its OK, at least I got a job to go back to. I do have some vacation time and a job. Imagine so many people out of work and so many working two or three jobs with no time off for themselves or family. I am blessed and very thankful. Not to say I don’t have money problems, I do, like everyone else. Everything is going up in price. It seems like the day to day items you need, lunch, toothpaste, sodas, change for the meter, change for the kids lunch, dry cleaning, electric, cable, gas (Damn, that sucker went up again to $2.67 in Charleston and I know its pretty high in DC), and coffee. If you go to Starbucks each morning and pay $1.40 for a tall Pike Place, Sumatra (my favorite) or what every the flavor is that day, it’s about seven dollars a week. If you smoke, about $20.00 a week, depending upon your brand. I see folks smoking cigarettes with the brand that reads just “cigarettes.” What’s in that smoke?

Everything has gone up, but our salary has not. With all that is going on in the world today, the media does not paint a good picture that next year it will get better.

Well, we have to cut down on the fancy things, you know, Macy’s, Neiman Marcus, Bloomingdale’s, Nordstrom (I love that store when they have a sale and it’s unbelievable the prices they cut items down to when you know it originally cost that price in the first place. Who do they think they are kidding!).

So, we cut down on more items.  No more take out, no more $10.00 movies (Can you believe how high movies have gone up.  A bag of popcorn with a soda and ticket can cost $25.00, crap!! - I'll bring in my own candy and popcorn and go to the $2.00 movie theatre).   Become a volunteer Usher and see plays and shows free.  They are always look for volunteers at many places because they cannot afford to hire.  So put on your black pants and white shirt and volunteer at your local theatre and see a good play then use the extra money you save and buy cheap priced books for the Kindle, iPad, iPhone or what every your heart desires just as long as it’s cheap.

The Capital BookFest is a one day literary festival of a writers, poets and children book authors. It is being held for 2010 in Harrisburg, PA, Largo, MD and Charleston, SC. I wanted to go to the one in Largo, since it’s close to my hometown of DC, but they are coming in this weekend to Charleston on November 6 and of course I am volunteering to help. I just love book fairs. I get autographs of my favorite authors and buy so many books.

I was not at the one in Largo, but, here are some of the authors who were there and their books. I have listed some of the books, but will list more on my next blog. Please support them and buy their books, you will not regret it

Robert Pierre
A Day Late and a Dollar Short: High Hopes and Deferred Dreams in
Obama's 
"Post-Racial" America - $12.99 
Click Here - A Day Late and a Dollar Short: High Hopes and Deferred Dreams in Obama's "Post-Racial" America

Ytasha L. Womack
Post Black: How a New Generation is Redefining African American Identity - $9.99
Click Here - Post Black: How a New Generation Is Redefining African American Identity

Victoria Rowell
Secrets of a Soap Opera Diva- $9.99
Click Here - Secrets of a Soap Opera Diva: A Novel

Robin Stone
My Times in Black and White: Race and Power at the New York Times - $9.99
Click Here - My Times in Black and White: Race and Power at the New York Times

Leonard Pitts, Jr. 
Before I Forget - $7.99 - - - Quote from Amazon, “In a seamless transition to fiction, Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist Pitts Jr. (Becoming Dad) delivers an unsettling, compelling first novel about secrets, illness, and the role of African-American men in society and family life. His absorbing story centers on unmarried father of one Mo Johnson, a faded 1970s soul star living in Baltimore, and diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer's at the age of 49. Overwhelmed with regrets, and unable to confess his diagnosis, he sets out to make things right with two men long absent in his life: his teenage son, Trey, an unwed father facing armed-robbery charges; and his father, Jack, now ravaged by cancer. Mo and Trey take a cross-country road trip to visit Jack in his final days, each character a simmering cauldron of secrets, grief, and recrimination about to boil over. Unfolding like a film (big names are already attached to a possible movie adaptation), the novel takes readers to rural 1940s Mississippi, South Central L.A. in the swingin' 1950s, and present-day Las Vegas with immersing dialog and vivid, powerful imagery.
Click Here - Before I Forget

Pastor Jamal Bryant
World War Me- $10.99. The forward is by Bishop T.J. Jakes
Click Here - World War Me

Bertice Berry
The Ties That Bind - $14.37
Click Here - The Ties That Bind: A Memoir of Race, Memory, and Redemption

Tinesha Davis
Holler at the Moon: A Novel - $9.99
Click Here - Holler at the Moon


Kia Dupree
Damaged - $9.99
Click Here - Damaged


Trice Hickman
Playing the Hand You’re Dealt - $9.99
Click Here - Playing the Hand You're Dealt


Ned Sublette
The Year Before the Flood: A Story of New Orleans - $13.77
Click Here - The Year Before the Flood: A Story of New Orleans


Batt Humphreys
Dead Weight - $9.66
Click Here - Dead Weight

A little bit of this and that!

Number 31

I’m on vacation. I’m on vacation. Now that’s the beauty of working for the Government. You earn leave each pay period and over time it grows before you know it and you can only take so much into the next year, so you have to use it or lose it, and I do not intend to lose it.

I know my money is tight. Paying a mortgage, electric, cable, which I am about to shut down. It use to cost me about $65.00 a month for both cable and Internet, now it is $120.00 a month and I don’t even look at that much TV. I have basic cable, you know limited TV. No HBO three times. No Showtime three times. No BBC, GREEN, BIO, WE, SOAP, and more sports stations than legs on a caterpillar’s ass. There are over 400 channels, my GOD who looks at that much TV. You mean to tell me you don’t go outside other than work? You don’t play with your kids, spouse or friends?

What do you do with your free time? Read books, right? Read quality stories with some funny ass and serious plots and even funnier characters, so lets get to it:

WHOOPI GOLDBERG - If you still look at TV, she is on the show, The View and she has been in many movies. I don’t catch the TV show, I’m at work usually, but I always see something on the net about her and the other women on their political views, which some like and some don’t. Don’t get me started with this political crap that’s go around, just go out and VOTE.

IS IT JUST ME? - $9.99 - - - Have you noticed that things aren't as civil as they once were? Or that rudeness is no longer an exception but a lifestyle? Sure you have. All you need to do is set foot outside your door to see that bad manners are taking over everywhere. People are yakking on cell phones in restaurants, even at church. Folks in carpools wear enough cologne to make our eyes bleed. Complete strangers think it's OK to rub a pregnant lady's belly. Passengers abuse flight attendants, family outings to the ball park are ruined by rowdy drunks . . . a congressman heckled the President of the United States. This is Whoopi’s version of her observations of why our civility is missing, but with humor. Yes, it is missing.

















WENDY RAVEN McNAIR  - ASLEEP - $6.99 - - - I just recently became friends on Facebook with Wendy. I am always, always looking for authors to become friends with me because I may have missed someone while updating this blog and It’s nice to purchase and read their books. I cannot promote a book on this blog and not read it. That would be a waste of time for me and the author. So far, every single book I have promoted, I have brought and in some instances, brought a few for friends. Give it a try, it’s a new way of looking at romance. Here’s an excerpt:

Adisa Summers doesn't know her boyfriend, Micah Alexander, can fly. Micah's odd emotionless behavior, rigid posture, and vacant eyes are mysteries sending mixed messages to Adisa. When a flash of lightning sends a tree crashing down on her, Adisa is shocked to see Micah actually flying to her rescue!

In an instant, Adisa is in his arms, looking up at the sky over his shoulder as they fly parallel to the ground. Micah shifts, shielding her completely with his body. As the tree explodes against Micah's back, Adisa feels him shudder with the impact and the air fills with wood chips and sawdust. Miraculously, they aren't smashed into the ground. They safely continue flying.

Micah finally begins to open up to Adisa about his secret life as a super being and she discovers another shocking secret… Micah burns for her--literally as well as figuratively.  ASLEEP is a superhero teen love story set in modern day Atlanta that's filled with humor, mystery, romance, and suspense.

















NTOZAKE SHANGE - FOR COLORED GIRLS WHO HAVE CONSIDERED SUICIDE WHEN THE RAINBOW IS ENUF - $8.99 - - - You know the movie comes out November 5. See the trailer on http://forcoloredgirlsmovie.com.   Please support his movie. Please.
















BRENDA JACKSON - IN TOO DEEP: HUSBAND MATERIAL/THE SHEIKH’S BARGAINED BRIDE (SILHOUETTE DESIRE) - $3.40 - - - Now, this woman can write romance. I still love my Westmoreland men, Love Them!















MURDER, OH! MY, DID THE BUTLER DO IT? - Black Women Mystery Writers continued:

BARBARA HAMBLY - 
A FREE MAN OF COLOR (BENJAMIN JANUARY, BOOK 1) - $4.75 (Hardback 1998) - - - This is the first in eight books on Ben January, a mixed blood making a living as a musician because he cannot, in 1833, perform surgery, but he will take the chance to solve murders. It is rare to see a black man in the 18th century solve crimes, but it was a good find.
A Free Man of Color (Benjamin January, Book 1)

FEVER SEASON (BENJAMIN JANUARY, BOOK 2) - $0.01 (Paperback 1999)
Fever Season (Benjamin January, Book 2)

GRAVEYARD DUST (BENJAMIN JANUARY, BOOK 3) - $0.01 (Hardcover 2000)
Graveyard Dust (Benjamin January, Book 3)

SOLD DOWN THE RIVER (BENJAMIN JANUARY, BOOK 4) - $0.01 (Paperback 2001)
Sold Down the River (Benjamin January, Book 4)

DIE UPON A KISS (BENJAMIN JANUARY, BOOK 5) - $6.29
Die Upon a Kiss (Benjamin January, Book 5)

WET GRAVE (BENJAMIN JANUARY, BOOK 6) - $5.89
Wet Grave (Benjamin January, Book 6)

DAYS OF THE DEAD (BENJAMIN JANUARY, BOOK 7) - $5.49
Days of the Dead (Benjamin January, Book 7)


DEAD WATER (BENJAMIN JANUARY, BOOK 8) - $5.49 Sefton, the two pose as Hannibal's slaves/servants and board a steamboat heading up the Mississippi River. On the boat, they find themselves amid slave runners, abolitionists and a host of interesting, unsavory and downright terrifying individuals. So when their quarry is transformed into a corpse, it's no wonder the trio have no idea who might be trusted.”
















MELANIE MCALLESTER - - Melanie is the author of two mysteries book,  none in Kindle, on Elizabeth (Tenny) Mendoza, a half-black, half-Mexican, lesbian cop. Hey, lesbians can kick some ass when needed! And no, this not some crack about lesbians, they are just people too, so stop tripping and getting all politically correct on me!

THE LESSONS - $4.80 (Paperback 1994) - - - Quote from Amazon, “A serial rapist is assaulting Bay Area lesbians, and half-black, half-Mexican homicide investigator ``Tenny'' Mendoza joins with rookie Ashley Johnson and sexual assault detective Steve Carlton to crack the case. Lesbians Tenny and Ashley must confront the homophobic Steve as well as unmask the rapist before he can strike again. The ``lessons'' of the title are those learned by each of the main characters as they become more deeply involved and more vulnerable--as well as those the rapist intends to teach about ``what real love is all about.''

THE SEARCH - $0.96 (Paperback 1996) - Tenny has to find the kid of her former lover. The only woman she has ever loved.

Some Serious Urban Fiction

NUMBER 30

I want to thank the authors who posted their books on Amazon in the discussion,”African-American Fiction Community.”  I have received so many books that I cannot keep up, but I am going to give it a damn good try.  Nothing much to report today.  I went to work and was able to accomplished many projects without the bullshit from people who are always complaining about something.  That something is not worth the time to listen and mess up my ears.  I cannot believe how many people are not thankful for having a job.  I mean a damn good Government job.  Your ass cannot be fired because you are civil servant (contractors can be fired).  You come to work when you get ready, unless you have a supervisor who cares or follows the rules.  You take two hours lunch and come back to complain about the food.  I know some supervisors don’t give a damn and there are days I understand why.  

You just get pissed at hearing the same old bull crap about my mother, my brother, my kids, my house, my boyfriend or husband or significant other.  I got a good one for you, “I cannot come in today because it is raining.”  Do you believe that?  I am not kidding.  Someone actually called in and said that.  What the hell was he or she thinking?  Damn, I cannot get away with that crap.  No way.

Let’s get to books, it’s more fun.

CHICKI BROWN - A multicultural women's fiction writer and a member of the Romance Writers of American and Georgia Romance Writers.  Visit her website to learn more. http://www.freewebs.com/chicki663/

HAVE YOU SEEN HER? - $2.39 - - - A brief description of the book from the author. Marcia Hadley, Santa Barbara, California socialite has been married for seven years to the heir of a family fortune. He sees to it that she has the finest home, cars and clothes. Yet that isn't enough to keep Marcia from running.  Dani Reynolds, Atlantic City nightclub cocktail waitress works on her feet seven hours a night, five days a week for less than minimum wage in a crowded, smoky nightclub. She lives in an aging, run-down apartment, rides the city bus, and she's happier than she's ever been.  Marcia and Dani have more in common than anyone could imagine. They are the same woman.  Only Taylor Villanova, the club's sexy bouncer can help her reconcile her two distinct personas, face her greatest fear and discover a love greater than she'd ever imagined.  Have You Seen Her?

TERESA D PATTERSON - Check out her website.  http://www.teresadpatterson.com  I will have to order the paperback versions for my girlfriend.  She does not have a computer, Kindle or anything.  Well, the hell is wrong with that? It’s OK, I got non-computer geek friends back.  

EX-BOYFRIEND - $5.99 Ex-boyfriend

IT’S YOUR WORLD, BLACK GIRL - $22.46 (2005 Paperback) - - - What, if anything, could send you to the brink of insanity? As you're tip-toeing toward the edge, can you claw your way back? Will you take that terrifying plunge? What constitutes child neglect? Have your parenting skills ever been put to the ultimate test, and you've failed? Does day-to-day living stress you out to the point of finding release in alcohol, men and the club scene? All of these questions come to mind as you read It's Your World, Black Girl! This is a novel categorized as African-American fiction. It tells the story of three women-Chiquita Fry, Amnesty Dillard and July Williams-who are newfound friends. Because of certain events that take place, their friendship is tested and strengthened. Amidst the drama, heartache and heartbreak, each woman recognizes her own self-worth, finds inner strength and emerges as the person she was put on this world to become.

IN NEED OF A JOSHUA MAN - $3.99

In Need of a Joshua Man

SPIN CYCLE - $2.99

UNCROSSING HER LEGS - $2.99

Uncrossing Her Legs

WHAT ABOUT YOUR FRIENDS - $4.99

What About Your Friends

PROJECT QUEEN - $5.99

Project Queen

PROJECT QUEEN II - $5.99 - - - This just came out a few days ago. - - -  Della is the illegitimate daughter of Jimmy Byrts and Lorain Wilkerson, a strung-out drug addict. She desperately seeks the love that her mother, a woman who cares more for drugs than her own daughter, couldn’t give. She suffers from tragic situations which blinds her to real love. She only knows how to show it through sex, and it doesn’t matter who gets hurt in the process. 

A night of what should have been partying and fun turns into horror. It changes Della forever. She vows that what was inflicted upon her will be inflicted back on her attackers. She will pay them all back - with a vengeance.  Will her obsession with getting even cause her to spiral out of control? Who can save her? Better yet, does she want to be saved?

TINA SMITH-BROWN

Fish and Grits - $4.99 - - - Quote from Amazon, “Narrated in the voice of her younger sister, Fish and Grits chronicles the life of Kala Johnson, an African American girl who finds redemption from abuse by eating a forbidden meal. After the death of her father, fourteen year old Kala, an exceptional student who dreams about the future before it happens, takes on the responsibility of raising four younger siblings while struggling to survive the "concrete jungle" they call home. Kala, who will do anything to keep her family from suffering, comes up with a plan to keep them together amidst the challenges of poverty, government interference, and a drug addicted mother. When one of the eight years old twin boys begins to set deadly fires and is saved by their bank robbing neighbor, Kala finds in him a friend and confidante. Their lives continue to unravel after their mother is killed, but Aunt Charlie, their gay, ex-marine corps uncle, arrives just in time to rescue the family and to show Kala that true parental love really does exist. Fish and Grits is a fast pace urban drama which takes place during the era of Reganomics, disco music, and the Jheri Curl. Set in a North Philadelphia housing project during the early 1980s. It is a story of survival and determination, filled with memorable characters that will make you both laugh and cry aloud.” 

Fish and Grits

Black Woman Mystery Writers Part II - Pandemonium

NUMBER 29

From October 7 thru October 10, I volunteered at “That Big Book Sale” given by the Charleston Friends of the Library.  I always, always enjoy doing this.  I get a chance to meet so many people, especially kids.  Our children selection is always huge and this year the Mystery selection had over 1,000 books.  

Now when the Black folks come in, there usually isn’t that many, but when they do, the other board members tell them to see me about any books by black authors.  Since I am part of the set up and take down team (Man, it takes over 100 people to do that and the guys on parole also help), I see the books first.  This year we had lots of Terry, Eric, one or two Carl Weber, Connie Briscoe, and Brenda Jackson (Which I was surprised because many woman will not give up the Westmoreland Men for no one or nothing).  I was in my element.  I am in my world when I work at these book fairs.  I can’t tell you or describe how my whole body just lights up inside and go goodly and just out of my damn mind.  I see a sea of books and more books and want to jump in and have the best fucking orgasm in the world (OK, Ok, that may not be what one would say about  books, but hey, I ain’t got a man and have not had one in quite a while, but I am not lonely either).  I got my books, a good life, a good dog to keep me in shape, a beautiful and intelligent daughter and GOD on my side.  What the hell more do I need?  More books! What else.  

On to more Black Women Mysteries. As I have stated before, some of these books are not on Kindle, but you still may want to read them and they are pretty cheap.  Go ahead, fall into the dark recess of your mind and give the killer a piece of it while you are kicking his/her but.

Now. when you buy a book that costs one cent under “used”, remember that you have to pay for the shipping.  It usually is about $3.00 to $4.00.  It’s still worth it.

ELEANOR TAYLOR BLAND - Eleanor is the creator of the mystery fiction’s first black woman homicide detective, Marti MacAlister.  A former cop and a widowed mother of two, where she moves to the Lincoln Prairie police.

SLOW BURN (MARTI MacALISTER MYSTERY) - $0.01 (Paperback 1994)

Slow Burn (Marti MacAlister Mystery)

GONE QUIET - $3.00 (Paperback 1995) - - - Wishing she could kill her husband of thirty-five years, Gladys Hamilton is surprised when someone else beats her to it, and police detectives Marti MacAlister and Vic Jessenovik search for the truth about a shameful family secret. Gone Quiet

DONE  WRONG - $0.01 (Paperback 1996)

Done Wrong

KEEP STILL (MARTI MacALISTER MYSTERIES) - $0.01 (Paperback 1998)

Keep Still (Marti Macalister Mysteries)

SEE NO EVIL (MARTI MacALISTER MYSTERIES) - $0.01 (Paperback 1999)

See No Evil (Marti Macalister Mysteries)

DEAD TIME (MARTI MacALISTER MYSTERIES) - $0.01 (Paperback 2001)

Dead Time (Marti Macalister Mysteries)

WINDY CITY DYING: A MARTI MacALISTER MYSTERY - $0.01 (Paperback 2003)

Windy City Dying: A Marti MacAlister Mystery

FATAL REMAINS - $0.01 (Paperback 2003)

Fatal Remains (Bland, Eleanor Taylor)

A COLD AND SILENT DYING (MARTI MacALISTER) - $0.01 (Paperback 2004)

A Cold and Silent Dying (Marti Macalister)

A DARK AND DEADLY DECEPTION (MARTI MacALISTER MYSTERIES - Kindle version for $10.00

A Dark and Deadly Deception

CHARLOTTE CARTER - Carter’s detective Nanette Hayes is a young, tall, black, beautiful and defiantly bald and armed with attitude and a master’s degree in French, (crap, I would be afraid of her).  Nanette is, “A Spike Lee heroine in a Woody Allen World.”

RHODE ISLAND RED (NANETTE HAYES MYSTERIES) - $0.01 (Paperback 1999)

Rhode Island Red (Nanette Hayes Mysteries)

COQ AU VIN (NANETTE HAYES MYSTERIES) - $0.01 (Paperback 2000)

Coq Au Vin (Nanette Hayes Mysteries)

DRUMSTICKS (A NANETTE HAYES MYSTERY) - $4.85 (Paperback 2001, but you can get the Hardback for $0.01) - - - African-American sax artist Nanette Hayes, a tough New Yorker, returns for her third gig (following Rhode Island Red and Coq au Vin). Nan is as low as she can go--hitting the booze hard, losing contact with friends and drifting until the gift of a voodoo doll seems to change her luck. An unexpected check and a chance to perform regularly at an upscale jazz club rouse her to seek out the voodoo doll's creator, an older woman named Ida Williams, whom she invites on impulse to hear her play. Her good luck ends in opening-night gunfire that leaves Ida dead. The old woman's checkered past, a vendetta among rap artists and an elaborate scam combine to thrust Nan into a maelstrom of violence. In search of answers, Nan finds that she needs her friends--Aubrey, a beautiful exotic dancer, and Justin, a white, witty drag queen. She also needs the help of both her high school principal father, who left her mother to marry a much younger white woman, and gruff NYPD detective Leman Sweet, who proves to be an unexpected guardian angel. Underneath the street trappings and the jazzy, bold sexuality, Nan seems a nice middle-class gal seeking bohemia who instead finds adventure and romance.

Drumsticks (A Nanette Hayes mystery)

WALKING BONES (HIGH RISK BOOKS) - $0.37 (Paperback 2002)

Walking Bones (High Risk Books)

JACKSON PARK (COOK COUNTY MYSTERY) - $0.01 (Paperback 2003)

Jackson Park (Cook County Mystery)

TRIP WIRE: A COOK COUNTY MYSTERS - Kindle version $9.99 (2005)

Trip Wire: A Cook County Mystery

I will have more.  There are so many African American mystery writers, both men and women, who I know you will like.  In the meantime, hit me up on Facebook, Amazon or email me.  Any and all suggestions, comments or if you want me to advertise your book on my blog (Yes, I have received a few requests and they are forthcoming), take me up on my offer.  Have a great week and enjoy your life before it enjoys you to the ground.  

Bookzilla

I saw that my Bookzilla picture did not display.  So here it is.  Enjoy it.  Thanks

Black Woman Mystery Writers

Number 28

I have been away for a while, but no worry, I was volunteering from Thursday through Sunday at “That Big Book Sale” at the Gaillard Auditorium in downtown Charleston.  This sale is sponsored by the Charleston Friends of the Library, which I am a board member.  We collect donated books, VHS, DVDs, software and sale them from $.50 to $15.00.  We have also rare books that are auction.  We have about four sales each year at smaller libraries, but this is the largest and I have volunteered for it the last five years.  Each and every year I love it more.  So many books and not enough time to read them, but I will try.  

The picture you see above was outside of the Gaillard is me standing in front of the tallest collection of books.  It’s call Bookzilla.  Bookzilla was a fundraising project that gives volunteers, businesses and the general public an opportunity to support Charleston Volunteers for Literacy's tutoring program for students in high need and local elementary schools.  The artist, Karl Beckwith Smith, was attempting to set a new sculpture record by collecting and stacking over 10,000 books into a towering art sculpture.  You selected books there were next to the tower, paid $5.00, wrote you name on the book and it was added to the tower.  I could not let that go without my face in front.  I just loved it. Will tell you more about the book sale tomorrow, now one to Books and more Books:

Nikki Baker is the author of a mystery series featuring black lesbian stockbroker Virginia Kelly.  Unfortunately, none of her books are on the Kindle, but I thought you would like to try her.  They are pretty good if I say so my self.  I have a few of her books that I brought over the years and still have them in my library.  You know, its fun to read about a black woman kicking ass and taking prisoners.  Read on sisters and brothers, read on!!!

IN THE GAME (VIRGINIA KELLY MYSTERY)  - $5.45 (1991 Paperback) - - - When businesswoman Virginia Kelly, a black lesbian, meets her old college chum Bev Johnson for drinks late one night, Bev confides that her lover, Kelsey, is seeing another woman. Ginny had picked up that gossip months ago, but she is shocked when the next morning's papers report that Kelsey was found murdered behind the very bar where Ginny and Bev had met. Worried that her friend could be implicated, Ginny decides to track down Kelsey's killer and also contacts a lawyer, Susan Coogan. Susan takes an immediate, intense liking to Ginny, complicating Ginny's relationship with her live-in lover. Meanwhile Ginny's inquiries heat up when she learns the Feds suspected Kelsey of embezzling from her employer. Woven into the narrative are observations on lesbian life and on prejudice, which are undercut when the author resorts to stereotyping: Ginny's boss, for example, is a drunken Irishman. Still, an entertaining assortment of female characters makes Baker's debut promising, even though the plot's logic does not stand up to close scrutiny: the police do not suspect Bev of the murder, making Ginny's sleuthing to save her friend appear superfluous.  

n the Game (Virginia Kelly Mystery)The Lavender House Murder: A Virginia Kelly MysteryThe Ultimate Exit Strategy

THE LAVENDER HOUSE MURDER: A VIRGINIA KELLY MYSTERY - $3.85 (1992 Paperback)

The Lavender House Murder: A Virginia Kelly Mystery

LONG GOODBYES: A VIRGINIA KELLY MYSTERY  - $15.00 (1993 Paperback)

Long Goodbyes: A Virginia Kelly Mystery

THE ULTIMATE EXIT STRATEGY - $9.86 (2001 Paperback)

The Ultimate Exit Strategy

JACQUELINE TURNER BANKS - Jacqueline is the author of a mystery series featuring a college-educated black cleaning woman in Oakland, California.  Ruby Gordon, is “a woman of substance and possessed a quirky good humor.  

MAID IN THE SHADE  - $.01 (1998 - Paperback)

BARELY MAID (A RUBY GORDON MYSTERY) - on the Kindle for $1.99

Jacqueline also writes children books - 

EGG-DROP BLUES,

A DAY FOR VINCENT CHIN AND Me

THE NEW ONE

Here are some of her romance books on Kindle:

SCENTED LUST - $5.99

Scented Lust

SCENTED DREAMS (A DOGON-HUNTER SERIES) - $6.99

Scented Dreams (A Dogon-Hunter Series)

THE GREAT GEBRE - $0.99

The Great Gebre

VALERIE WILSON WESLEY - Valerie was an Essence magazine executive editor, a graduate of Howard University (Yeah!!! Howard of my home town of DC), and a children’s author.  She is the creator of black private eye Tamara Hayle, a single parent and ex-cop in Newark, New Jersey.  This character is a believable and independent sleuth with intuition, sexiness, tenderness and toughness.

DYING IN THE DARD: A TAMARA HAYLE MYSTERY - $9.99 - - - In her seventh case, PI Tamara Hayle reluctantly agrees to investigate the murder of her former best friend from high school, Celia Jones. Celia's teenage son, Cecil, convinces Tamara to take the case, but then he is murdered, too. Many people had reason to hate Celia: the men she loved and left, the husband of her lesbian lover, and her own ex-husband. Tamara finds that the promiscuous Celia's life was intertwined with popular high-school students from their joint past and their families--all of whom are well-respected members of the community. But is one of them a murderer? Tamara disagrees with the police solutions to the crimes and continues to investigate.

Dying in the Dark: A Tamara Hayle Mystery (Tamara Hayle Mysteries)

OF BLOOD AND SORROW: A TAMARA HAYLE MYSTERY - $14.85 - - - This time PI Tamara searches for a missing child with the and to save her own child. 

Of Blood and Sorrow: A Tamara Hayle Mystery

There are many more black mystery woman writers, but many of their books are not in Kindle format.  So, why not give you more tomorrow of books that are still cheap, but in another format.  See Yah Tomorrow!!!   Start reading your but off!