Yes, I think. When I pick it up, cannot but read some 50 to 100 pages.

It’s constructed out of chapters never more than a few pages long, each describing a scene. Each of the scenes/chapters are primarily dialogue driven.

And it’s a series of murder mysteries!

And many of the characters have interesting/funny names, like the unfortunately named “Herbie Hind”.

But it’s not dealing with a lighthearted subject. Instead, the legacy of the Emmett Till lynching.

Each of the ill-doers for that and other racist killings, are brought to a bloody, painful Justice.

And I’m not sure what I think of it. Do I like the book?

Why I’m Suspicious of Reading Fast

I find myself doubtful when I read a book very quickly. Expecting something. I have to try to read slowly to compensate for what is impatiently pushing me forward: my expectations.

I wouldn’t say that I dislike this book. To use an analogy, a friend, went out with a good looking man and found herself perplex because she thought that she should have liked him, but she didn’t feel it. She didn’t dislike him, but wasn’t sure that she liked the person (romantically).

Should I Like It Because of the Stature of the Author?

Based on what I know of Everett, I feel an inclination to like the book. And I do not dislike it. But do I like it?

It’s enjoyable to read, it’s humorous, it’s intersecting with a delicate historical subject. That is as much salient today as it was when it happened. Perhaps more so.

Do wonder if I expect it to be treated with a more grave air, more solemnity. Am I doubtful because of the lightheartedness?

Yet, the Naming is No Joke

Although it seems a constant joke, running throughout the novel. When finally our prosaically named detectives (“Jim Davis”) again interview Mama Z, she stands next to Damon Thruff (Professor Thruff, no less) as he inscribes names on his sheet and asks, repeatedly, “Do you want him to stop?”

To which a detective more prosaically named Ashley Vaught can only surmise that somehow Damon Thruff is an inadvertent bringer of justice through the act of inscribing names (“Eric Garner … Trayvon Martin …”)

Writing down names has become a revolutionary act. Do you want him to stop?