One-Shot Harry

November 1, 2021

Black Korean War veteran Harry Ingram works as a news photographer and occasional process server in early 1960s Los Angeles, ever mindful in the taut environment inspired by Martin Luther King's approaching Freedom Rally that he could be targeted for violence on any assignment. Rushing to photograph a deadly automobile accident, he recognizes the vehicle as belonging to an old friend, white jazz trumpeter Ben Kingslow, and the photos he takes show that this crash was not the accident the police inferred. From an Anthony Award-winning author celebrated for his L.A. noir fiction.

Copyright 2021 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from March 7, 2022
Set in 1963 Los Angeles, this terrific novel from Phillips (the Ivan Monk series) centers on freelance photographer and occasional process server Harry Ingram. Ingram, a Korean War vet, sells his photos to local newspapers and magazines, many serving the Black community. Ingram also listens to a police scanner, poised to capture moments of conflict and racial injustice. One day he catches a call to the scene of a fatal car accident. Ingram recognizes the car described as belonging to an old army buddy, Ben Kinslow. A well-known figure in town, Kinslow was a jazz trumpeter and had just recently reconnected with Ingram. Something about the scene doesn’t feel right to Ingram. Was his friend’s death really an accident, or was he being targeted? Ingram turns gumshoe and embarks on an investigation that leads to old guard lefties, rogue cops, Nation of Islam activists, and politicians on the make. The forthcoming visit of Martin Luther King Jr. adds to the drama. With close attention to period detail and precise prose, Phillips brings the era vividly to life. Crime fiction fans won’t want to miss this one. Agent: David Hale Smith, Inkwell.

April 2, 2022

It's 1963. Reverend King Jr. is slated to speak in L.A. in two weeks, preparatory to his August March on Washington. Racial tension is rife in Los Angeles, but what's new about that? When Korean War buddy Ben Kinslow dies in a crash, Black press photographer Harry Ingram isn't convinced it's an accident. Ben was working for a Provider, an influential white businessman working behind the scenes to undermine the candidacy for mayor of Tom Brady, who's Black. Was Ben killed to shut him up? But how does a Black man go about digging up the truth in a city so openly racist? Harry follows his leads, calling on ordinary citizens, hoods, even members of the Nation of Islam and leftover Communists. Along the way he connects with a woman he may be in love with: she's working for Brady, totes a gun and isn't afraid to use it. In the end, they avert a crime but don't catch a killer, who, protected by skin color and wealth, is untouchable in 1963 California. Unanswered questions raised along the way are left unresolved. VERDICT Phillips's (The Obama Inheritance) Harry is a worthy companion to Walter Mosley's Easy Rawlins. Here's hoping it's not a one-shot appearance.--David Keymer

Copyright 2022 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from January 15, 2022
The death of an old friend sucks a Black photographer into a maelstrom of intrigue in the lead-up to Martin Luther King's 1963 March on Washington. As he freely admits, Harry Ingram is "just trying to make the rent." In addition to a couple of activities best left unmentioned, he's a process server and a sometime photographer for publications like Jet and the California Eagle. When White horn player Ben Kinslow, who served with Harry in Korea, is killed in a suspicious car crash, Harry immediately suspects that his death is linked to the activities of Kinslow's wealthy boss, Winston Hoyt. But suspecting isn't knowing, and knowing isn't proving it to the satisfaction of the LAPD, whose chief, William Parker, advertises job opportunities in the Deep South in order to attract good old boys who can keep the Black man in his place. In the course of his investigations, Harry is threatened and beaten and his camera smashed by thugs hired to keep their bosses' names out of the papers and by police officers sworn to protect and to serve. Along the way, he hooks up with Anita Claire, a math teacher working on Tom Bradley's mayoral campaign who's hiding secrets of her own. Phillips roots his hero's adventures in a densely woven web of real-life local history that emphasizes both Black Angelenos' historic oppression and the moment for resistance crystallized in the Freedom Rally King plans en route to the demonstration in D.C. whose approach signals the possibility of historic change for both haves and have-nots. Like Walter Mosley in his stories about Easy Rawlins, Phillips presents a powerfully history-driven mystery.

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Starred review from November 1, 2021
The versatile Phillips first hit crime-fiction fans' radar more than 20 years ago with his superb Ivan Monk series (Only the Wicked, 2000) starring a Black PI in Los Angeles. More recently, Phillips has written stand-alone thrillers, comics, and old-school adventure, along with editing several fine anthologies (Politics Noir, 2008). His roots in the pulp-paperback era have always enhanced his work, as has his ability to portray the multifaceted ordinary lives of Black characters, often in inner-city L.A. Both of those through lines are present in his latest effort, featuring Black photographer and reporter Harry Ingram in 1963 L.A. After Korean War vet Harry's ""foxhole buddy,"" white jazzman Ben Kingslow, dies in a suspicious one-car accident, Harry decides to do some nosing around, following a trail that leads to an all-powerful group of conservative white businessmen. Meanwhile, his burgeoning love affair with Anita Claire, a campaigner working to elect Tom Bradley as L.A.'s first Black mayor, draws him into left-wing politics (and preparations for Martin Luther King, Jr.'s upcoming Freedom Rally). In addition to the rich history here, Phillips vividly captures the sights and sounds of the era (jazz and blues on Central Avenue) as well as the ubiquitous racism and police brutality that threatened everyone in the Black community. Ingram emerges as a particularly satisfying, no-nonsense hero whose bullshit detector spares no one. Happily, the open-ended conclusion suggests there's more to come.

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