Part of Mario Balzic Detective Mystery, book 17
First published 2002
William Rayford has traded his Air Force uniform and mall security badge for a police officer's shield in Rocksburg, Pennsylvania. He breaks new ground as the town's first African American cop, achieving a dream he has carried for years. The Steel City Blues still hit him some days, reminders that this milestone comes with weight he cannot ignore. Rocksburg carries decades of racial prejudice in its bones, and Rayford knows this history runs deep through the community he now serves. Knowledge proves easier than action when facing that reality on the job. He works alongside fellow officers who must accept this change, patrolling streets that include the dangerous river flats where situations turn lethal without warning. Rayford prepares himself for whatever challenges this Pennsylvania town delivers, whether they come from criminals in dark alleys or from citizens who question his right to wear the badge.
Genres: american-fiction, african-american, mystery, crime, social-issues
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: fish-out-of-water, social-justice
Setting: Pennsylvania, Rocksburg
Period: 20th-century, 21st-century
294 pages · Hardcover · Mysterious Press
Content warnings: racism