Nashville

The Demise of Luleta Jones is that rare work where the literary novel and the mystery intersect, presenting an aspect of African American life that all-too-often is hidden from view. Set in Chicago, Illinois, and Nashville, Tennessee, The Demise of Luleta Jones, on its surface, is a whodunit in which investigative reporter Theophilous Pugh is obsessed with uncovering the facts surrounding the mysterious death of an enigmatic public school teacher from a newly gentrified neighborhood. Beneath the surface, however, is a scathing portrayal of the dire consequences that gifted African Americans often suffer when they violate their community's narrow conventions.