Synopses & Reviews
In her award-winning Charlotte Justice novels, Paula L. Woods has created a rare blend of mystery, suspense, and an unflinching social critique of urban, multiethnic America. Featuring an African American homicide detective in the LAPDs elite Robbery-Homicide Division, this new Charlotte Justice novel is a sizzling story of murder, politics, families, and betrayal in the uneasy melting pot of Los Angeles, where everyone has their own. . . .
DIRTY LAUNDRY
For Charlotte and her team, the case begins when a womans body is found in L.A.s Koreatown district, where a series of robberies and murders has already put besieged merchants on edge. Now the spectacle of a bright, successful young Korean woman found bludgeoned and bound in an alley is stirring fears, passions, and city politics. In the hours after Vicki Parks murder, Charlotte Justice must contend with a complex crime scene and a beleaguered communitys hostility toward the police.
Interestingly enough, Vicki (like Charlotte) lived and worked in two different worlds: her close-knit Korean community and the wider political world where she served as a special aide to handsome, media-savvy Mike Santos, whose is vying to become L.A.s first Latino mayor. With twenty-four candidates running to replace a long-standing African American incumbent, the mayors race is shaping up as a wild brawl, full of dirty tricks and innuendo. Is Vickis murder connected to the campaign or is the answer to be found in the ethnic enclave that nurtured Vicki-and that may now be hiding her killer?
While Charlotte searches for answers, she must also navigate the perils of life in the LAPD, which complicates her personal life, namely her budding relationship with Aubrey Scott, an emergency-room physician. Justifying her relentless hunt for Vickis killer as part of her mission as a homicide detective, Charlotte must face the possibility that her motivation may also be to ease the pain she feels over the violent death of her husband and young daughter years before-a possibility that is challenged in unexpected ways.
A powerful story about families and the secrets they keep, Dirty Laundry is a fast-paced, deeply human thriller that builds to a powerful climax. Featuring one of the great female characters in detective fiction today, this book is a fascinating portrait of Los Angeles from the streets of Koreatown to the power corridors of City Hall. Dirty Laundry is Paula Woodss richest, most rewarding novel to date.
From the Hardcover edition.
About the Author
Paula L. Woods is the author of
Inner City Blues and
Stormy Weather. She is also the editor of the acclaimed anthology
Spooks, Spies, and Private Eyes: Black Mystery, Crime, and Suspense Fiction of the 20th Century, and three other books.
She lives in Los Angeles with her husband and her boxer. She invites readers to visit her Web site at www.woodsontheweb.com
From the Hardcover edition.