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The city of Washington, District of Columbia, is a place of absurdist internal contradictions, where things often aren't what they seem. Washington, as represented by the White House and the iconic domed architecture of the Capitol building, is a symbol for power or democracy, depending on your view of the policies drafted and ratified there. At the same time, full-time residents of 'the District' are not classified as citizens of any US. state. That means that these people, 60 per cent of whom were black according to the 2000 census, can't elect anyone to a voting position in either the Senate or the Congress. In the shadow of Capitol Hill lies the only place in the continental US. where the entire local population is subjected to that nemesis of the 18th century Massachusetts revolutionaries, 'taxation without representation'. DC-based writer Barbara Fleming's second novel, MURDER ON THE GOLD COAST is also full of acerbically noted contradictions and slippages between appearance and fact. It is a riveting and hard-to-guess mystery, starring Lieutenant Matthew Alexander, the hero of Fleming's first book HOT STONES, COLD DEATH. In GOLD COAST, precocious young African-American detective Alexander tries to unravel the contradictions and lies when he must investigate the murder of a generally disliked real estate development magnate. The late Harold Waterson lived and died in the titular Gold Coast, an enclave of affluent African-Americans equally distanced from the isolated communities of white and less affluent black Washingtonians. The local homicide boss "couldn't care less when those poor slobs in Shaw or Anacostia are wasted," Lieutenant Alexander observes, "but he pulls out all the stops for a murder on the Gold Coast." Waterson's light complexion, limp hair, and white wife mean that he 'would have passed' if only his history wasn't known, according to a Gold Coast neighbour, and is widely distrusted for that -- among other things. However, a complex network of suspects each try to 'pass' in various self-fashioned roles, to Alexander's frustration. Worse, the prime suspect is Alexander's ex-girlfriend, a woman trapped by her manipulative, snobbish father in the golden cage of Gold Coast society and distrusted by Alexander's wife. The politics of the socially and economically segregated city are integral to Fleming's plot. Whereas John Grisham's A TIME TO KILL appears to invoke race conflict in the American South primarily to feed the plot mill, Fleming's detective story serves her socio-political investigation. When the case is closed, the issues that fuelled the murder remain glaringly unresolved. And yet, Alexander's romantic conflict of interest makes the obstacles he faces personal as well as political. Balancing these concerns with equal passion, Fleming is a writer to watch out for. Unfortunately, GOLD COAST needs another round of editing. In the earlier chapters, unnecessary adjectives and adverbs clutter Fleming's prose, dampening the suspense. On the first page, Fleming explains that the silence of an empty house is 'ominous': from her description, her readers know that. Using the word simply does their thoughtwork for them, which is a shame because readers of mysteries generally like to put their own minds to work, racing the characters to solve the case. Several characters speak long monologues about their personal lives and pasts to people whom they barely know, don't trust, or both. The exposition sticks out rather obviously. An unfortunately constructed sentence in which a woman 'stopped and stared at Sam's equipment' -- a camera and other technology -- needs reworking to avoid an unintentional pun. Finally, the copy of the book I received, which was not labelled as an uncorrected proof, has more typographical errors than any uncorrected proof I've ever read. One page contains three separate errors. However, after reading GOLD COAST, I wanted to find and read HOT STONES, which takes place partially in the District's Smithsonian museums. I hope that Fleming will continue the series -- but with editing and presentation that's as professional as Matthew Alexander. That is what both Fleming's Lieutenant and her readers deserve.
Reviewed by Rebecca Nesvet, September 2005
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Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)
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