Blacksmith Books

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.

Mildred Johnson is orphaned when her parents are killed in a violent protest for voting rights in the South in the 1950s. Her aunt takes her to Chicago, where, years later the two join a campaign to elect the city's first black mayor. When Mildred falls for the head of a grassroots organization involved in a voter registration drive, she is taken down a path of self-discovery as she learns the truth about her and Aunt Rose's past.