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I've always been a fan of Valerie Wilson Wesley's PI heroine Tamara Hayle, so was looking forward to DYING IN THE DARK with anticipation. But I was left feeling it was all rather an anti-climax. The things that have made me feel at home in previous books -- Tamara's relationship with son Jamal and best friend and beauty shop owner Wyvetta Green -- seem ponderous and repetitive in DYING IN THE DARK, the seventh in the series. There's far too much rehashing of old history -- yes, yes, we know Tamara's ex-husband DeWayne Curtis was a waste of space and that she mourns the death of her policeman brother Johnny -- and very little progression for any of the characters. The case at the heart of DYING IN THE DARK should be very close to home for Tamara, as it involves the death of an old schoolfriend, Celia Jones. The two had fallen out some years previously, and Celia's son Cecil begs Tamara to take on the case. Almost immediately he's found dead, stabbed through the heart. There's certainly a cast of likely suspects lining up -- Celia's unpleasant ex-husband, a handsome former lover who seems determined to flirt with Tamara, an angry and jealous woman who claims she and Celia were in love, and a lowlife cast of teenagers. The main snag with DYING IN THE DARK is that it's very one-paced, and there's little sense of suspense or danger. Tamara seems to wander from one suspect to the other, and there's no subplot to speak of to vary the pace. Even the dialogue comes across as slow and leaden. You may well see the ending coming a mile off, as I did, and sigh loudly at what verges on femjep. DYING IN THE DARK feels like a good writer and an appealing heroine treading water. I'd be sorry to see the back of Tamara, as there simply aren't enough strong black characters around in crime fiction. But she needs a injection of energy if the series is to survive.
Reviewed by Sharon Wheeler, October 2004
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Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)
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