Murder casts a shadow over the soul of Harlem....
When she's not studying for her master's or dropping in on her father's jazz gigs, ex-cop Mali Anderson checks out the scene at Harlem's smoky Half-Moon Bar. She wasn't there for singer-bartender Thea Morris's birthday party, but someone else was--someone who shot Thea to death outside in the alley. Was it her boyfriend, now sitting in jail on suspicion of murder? His sister insists he's innocent--and wants her friend Mali to clear his name.
Thea herself is a mystery: a lonely beauty in an apartment too deluxe for a woman living on tip money, with a gamut of lovers from an aspiring actor to an ambitious politician. It will take all Mali's savvy--and sources from street-corner buzz to uptown cocktail chat--to unravel Thea's life and death. And it will take her every survival instinct to catch a killer who will kill again to keep a deadly secret.
"Tense and expertly crafted."
--Chicago Tribune
"Edwards is a real magician, conjuring up a working-class Harlem neighborhood and its rich blend of citizens with warmth and humor."
--Booknews from The Poisoned Pen
"Vivid...memorable."
--Booklist
Don't miss the first Mali Anderson mystery by Grace F. Edwards--If I Should Die:
"The best crime fiction about Harlem since Chester Himes."
--Eleanor Taylor Bland
