In 1926, musician Tom Hickey reads in a broadside about a lynching that the Los Angeles newspapers failed to report and discovers that the Negro victim was an old friend. When his neighbor, an LAPD detective, confirms that, officially, the lynching didn’t occur, Hickey decides to investigate the murder. The investigation earns Tom beatings, gunfire meant to dissuade him, and warnings from a Klansman that he’s made some formidable enemies. Among them may be infamous Police Chief Two Gun Davis, Examiner publisher and political heavyweight William Randolph Hearst, and Harry Chandler, owner of the Times, who owns more land than any man in the world.
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“James Ellroy fans will welcome Kuhlken's intriguing sixth California Century mystery…Kuhlken mixes historical and fictional characters with an ease that will remind many of Max Allan Collins's Nate Heller series. He's equally adept at melding the murder inquiry with Hickey's struggles with his dysfunctional family.”
— Publishers Weekly
“Kuhlken demonstrates his command of keeping a story moving with a meticulously thought-out plot while populating it with believable characters.”
— Library Journal (starred review)“Features the same original plots and memorable characters that make Kuhlken's series so outstanding.”
— Library Journal“Readers will enjoy this fast-paced historical amateur sleuth mystery.”
— Midwest Book Review" Noir which is fine but is usually so heavy on plot and sparse, hard-bitten dialogue that it's just not for me. "
— Elizabeth, 10/2/2010Ken Kuhlken earned degrees in literature and writing from San Diego State University and the University of Iowa and was awarded a National Endowment for the Arts fellowship. He has been a frequent contributor and a columnist for the San Diego Reader. His stories have appeared in Esquire and numerous other magazines and anthologies and have been honorably mentioned in Best American Short Stories. His novels have won several awards. Midheaven was a finalist for the Hemingway Foundation/PEN Award. The Loud Adios won the St. Martin’s Press / Private Eye Writers of America Best First PI Novel contest, and The Do-Re-Mi was named a January Magazine Best Book of 2006 and was a finalist for the 2006 Shamus Award.
Ray Porter has garnered two Audie nominations as well as several Earphones Awards and enthusiastic reviews for his sparkling narration of audiobooks. A fifteen-year veteran of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, he has also appeared in numerous films and television shows.