The Mysterious Death of Junetta Plum
Harriet Stone Mystery #1
By Valerie Wilson Wesley
ISBN 9781496752499
Author’s website: valeriewilsonwesley.com
Brought to you by OBS Reviewer Jeanie
Synopsis:
At the darkly glamorous height of the Roaring 20s, an independent Black intellectual and her bi-racial foster child are immersed in the vibrant world of the Harlem Renaissance – and a shocking murder on Striver’s Row – in this thrilling Jazz Age mystery for reader of Nekesia Afia, Jacqueline Winspear, Avery Cunningham’s The Mayor of Maxwell Street.
1926: Harriet Stone, a liberated, educated Black woman, and Lovey, the orphaned, biracial 12-year-old she is bound to protect, are Harlem-bound, embarking on a new, hopefully less traumatic chapter in their lives. They have been invited to move from Connecticut by Harriet’s cousin, Junetta Plum, who runs a boardinghouse for independent-minded single women.
It’s a bold move, since Harriet has never met Junetta, but the fatalities of the Spanish flu and other tragedies have already forced her and Lovey to face their worst fears. Alone but for each other, they have little left to lose—or so it seems as they arrive at sophisticated Junetta’s impressive brownstone.
Her cousin has a sharp edge, which makes Harriett slightly uncomfortable. Still, after retiring to her room for the night, she finally falls asleep—only to awaken to Junetta arguing with someone downstairs. In the morning, she makes a shocking discovery at the foot of the stairs.
What ensues will lead Harriet to question Junetta’s very identity—and to wonder if she and Lovey are in danger, as well. It will also tie Harriet to five strangers. Among them, Harriet is sure someone knows something. What she doesn’t yet know is that one will play a crucial role in helping her investigate her cousin’s murder . . . that she will be tied to the others in ways she could never imagine . . . and that her life will take off in a startling new direction . . . (From Goodreads)
Review:
What a great, suspenseful first in this new series! The setting is Harlem, in New York City. Harriet and Lovey moved there in 1926, during the Harlem Renaissance. It was very different from Hartford, Connecticut, where Harriet and her biracial foster child, Lovey, moved from.
Life was difficult for many families, especially after millions died from the Spanish Flu. Lovey’s mother passed, and Harriet’s father brought Lovey home to care for. Within a few years, only Harriet, at 26, and Lovey, twelve, were left of the family.
A letter arrived from Junetta Plum, a cousin of Harriet’s father who she never heard of. He never spoke of his family, or his life before he was freed from slavery by the great Harriet Tubman. Harriet was named after her, but could she ever be as courageous as her namesake? It was time to find out.
Junetta invited Harriet to move to her brownstone, inherited from her late husband. She took in boarders, single women trying to “make a way in this hard old world.” She even paid for their train fare.
Junetta met and welcomed them at the beautiful Penn Station. She said she had plenty of time to tell them about their side of the family. But the next morning, Junetta was lying at the foot of the grand staircase, dead, in a pool of blood. Perhaps what Harriet thought was a nightmare really happened – a scream, a doorbell, an argument?
While awaiting the police, Harriet and Lovey talked with Tulip, Junetta’s housekeeper and cook. Junetta had been like a sister, a daughter, and a best friend to Tulip. The only thing Tulip and the boarders knew about Harriet and Lovey was that Harriet was family and to treat her well. The boarders were polite, each with a distinct personality, but trusted nobody.
The coroner thought Junetta’s death was an accident or suicide, and closed the case. The truth, according to Detective Elias Hoyt, the only Black man at his precinct, was that the police didn’t care about the deaths of Black people. Even if they lived in an upper-class neighborhood, as Junetta had.
The next-door neighbors visited, Emanuel Henderson, and his wife, “Theo” (Theodosia). Mr. Henderson was Junetta’s attorney, and would discuss her will with Harriet later. They were an older couple, kind and helpful. Within a few days, Theo’s younger sister, Edwina, took Harriet out for an evening on the town.
One of the boarders, Reola, left without a word. Days later, she was found dead on the street. Without help from the police, Harriet was determined to get to the bottom of Junetta’s and Reola’s deaths. There were many secrets to unearth – dark, unspeakable secrets in what was now Harriet’s house.
My favorite person is Harriet. Theo, the solicitor’s wife, was a close second. We learn a great deal about Harriet, including her fears and heartaches. Tulip and the boarders kept their real selves hidden from Harriet and Lovey, except one boarder intent on befriending Lovey. Tulip clearly had secrets. There was a quiet young man there, Gabriel, with severe burn scars on one hand and arm. If Junetta only rented to women, why was he there?
I appreciated learning about the “new” Harlem, including brief, interwoven historical events, music enjoyed by Harriet and Edwina, and what life was like in the mid-1920s. The author shared insight into the lives of Black people, barely sixty years after slavery ended, and the effects of Prohibition.
Harriet’s search for truth and justice was a challenge! It seemed almost impossible for anyone to find the killer(s). Would she be encouraged by the life of her father’s liberator to be bold without rocking the boat? Overall, this was a fabulous, suspenseful mystery, and I am looking forward to Harriet’s new job. I highly recommend this!
