First, a word about Pelecanos. He has something like 24
novels, novellas, graphic novels, and story books to his credit. All are based in
and around Washington, DC. Want more? How’s this: he was one of the
original writers and producers of what many critics say is the best crime series
on TV . . . EVER: The Wire. Add to that writing/producing credits for streaming
series Treme, The Pacific, The Deuce, We OwnThis City. IMDB notes 68 credits
to his work. Nominated twice for Emmy awards (The Wire, Treme). To top it all
off, he gets quite the nod from none other than Stephan King who calls Pelecanos
‘The greatest living American crime writer.’
And I bet you aren’t reading his books. I’m borderline offended.
The Blue Flame continues one of Pelecanos’ regular characters, Derek Strange,
owner of Strange Investigations, a black PI who owns and runs his own business
right there in front of all who inhabit his corner of NE DC. A black business
owner who is open dang near 24/7 to help out his neighborhood. Derek
is a DC native, grew up in NE DC, was a DC cop until the 14th St. riots after
the death of Martin Luther King, after which he quit and opened up a PI
agency. He knows his limits. What he can do, what he should do, where
he might gently step over the line, and importantly understand the relationship
between a PI and DC Metro police. Nearing retirement, but still can get the job done.
Billy Lake, a local defense lawyer known for his work mostly with drug dealers seeks
Derek out. Antone Anthony sits in the DC Metro jail on a murder charge. Lake thinks
the young man isn’t a killer (dealer: yes; killer: no). Wants Derek to talk to his friends
for background information.
Background info: Nigel Walker, Cynthia Barnes, Ricardo Lennox, Antone, and Kenneth
Norton were all childhood friends. Now in their 20s and trying to figure out their place in
the DC world. Cynthia had an older brother they all looked up to, but he was cut down
by a drunk driver. And her mother had died (or run off, can’t remember to be truthful).
The rest of the boys took in on themselves to look out for Cynthia. Which they did.
Cynthia and Nigel had this occasional friends with benefits thing going on. But Nigel
never parked outside of her house cuz he was afraid of her father, a retired DC cop.
One night, Nigel told Cynthia that he was headed over to see Antone about a money
beef. Something about cash flow in Antone’s dealing business. Only he never made it.
A couple blocks removed from Cynthia’s, Nigel is shot in his car. When the police
investigate, they check out the apts of all five friends and find the gun in Antone’s
apartment.
Derek talks to them all. Comes away with some observations, types up his report for
Bill Lake, gets paid. Short story? He doesn’t think Antone killed Nigel.
Maybe three weeks later, someone a few streets over from Antone’s calls in a foul odor
from a junkyard. A body had been squeezed into an old freezer and the smell of decay
was everywhere. It was Cynthia.
The problem is that now one set of cops thinks the two crimes are connected and
another thinks Cynthia was just wrong-place-wrong-time. A coincidence. Word gets to
Derek and he approaches Lake asking for his contract in the Antone case extended so
he can dig around a bit further . . . and not piss off the cops.
Here’s the thing about Pelecanos. He has lived his whole life in Silver Spring, MD.
Grew up working in small local corner cafes listening to the ebb and flow of DC life. I
seem to remember reading he volunteered with DC Metro juvenile counseling kids to
get out of the life. The stories he writes are mostly about DC street crime. Nary a
mention about the DC intrigue of guv’ment, politics, FBI, CIA, etc. His beat is the
streets. Based on his history, he comes by his plots and, importantly, the dialogue of
the DC streets honestly. His brilliant portrayal of the landscape, geography,
neighborhoods, streets, local details, is, in my opinion, among the best in the crime
business. He makes DC come alive. Hey, I grew up in Silver Spring, MD. He and I
attended the same high school (albeit maybe 6-8 years apart). As a local, I am
continually impressed with his attention to detail about DC and for me, that is an
enormous selling point.
Bottom line: Get off your lazy hindparts, head to your local library, Amazon, or
wherever you get your books and get busy reading Pelecanos. Don’t trust me? See the
quote from Stephan King above. His previous book was published in 2012, 'What it Was'.
I do hope we won't have to wait another 14 years for his next. I was getting impatient.
Thanks to NetGalley for the advance reader copy. Expected publication date is August 4, 2026
ECD
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