Time's Undoing

December 12, 2022
A Black journalist investigates an ancestor’s murder in the meandering latest from Head (Charlene Mack Motown Series). In 2019, Meghan McKenzie, 28, covers the Black Lives Matter movement for the Detroit Free Press and convinces her editor to send her to Birmingham, Ala., to look into her great-grandfather Robert Harrington’s 1929 death, following up on a family legend that he was killed by a cop. With the help of white librarian Kristen Gleason, smooth city official Darius Curren, and BLM leader Monique Hendricks, Meghan makes inroads with older Black residents who provide information and direction for her search. But her research into a crooked cop who was also murdered soon draws suspicion from locals, who attempt to threaten her into silence. As Meghan continues her quest and entertains her attraction to Darius, flashbacks fill in Robert’s life as a carpenter who is begrudgingly respected by white folks and whose flashy car and unwillingness to be meek draws the wrong kind of attention. Eventually, the leisurely pacing of Meghan’s investigation gives way to a hasty conspiracy-riddled final act. Though imperfect, the author’s meticulous tracing of racism’s legacies will intrigue historical fiction fans. Agent: Lori Galvin, Aevitas Creative Management.

February 24, 2023

Head's (Warn Me When It's Time) latest is narrated by two protagonists and encompasses 100 years of racial unrest in Birmingham, AL. In 1929, Robert Lee Harrington is a Black carpenter relocating to Birmingham with his wife and young daughter. In 2019, Meghan McKenzie is a Black journalist working for the Detroit Free Press and researching her family's history in her free time. She has grown up hearing the tragic account of her great-grandfather's suspicious death. When the Black Lives Matter movement spurs Meghan to travel to Birmingham to conduct research, she thrills to the prospect of finally solving her family mystery as well. As the story jumps between Meghan's attempts to coerce threads of information from uncooperative officials and Robert's struggles to keep his family safe in Jim Crow--era Alabama, the narratives begin to intersect. As a Black man in the segregated South, Robert is is walking a precarious line, but Meghan's ability to uncover deep secrets also puts her in danger. While Head's novel deals with the grimmer side of human nature, it also depicts the power of friends and community. VERDICT Head is the author of the "Charlie Mack Motown" mystery series featuring a Black, female, queer PI. Her new novel, based on true events, will please the author's fans and readers who enjoy novels with strong women protagonists.--Tara Kunesh

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Starred review from January 1, 2023
Head, the award-winning author of the Charlie Mack Motown mystery featuring a Black, female, queer PI, brings her gift for strong women protagonists and suspense to this tale about a young, Black, female journalist from Detroit on a dangerous quest. In 1929, a Black master carpenter, Robert Lee Harrington, is killed in Birmingham, Alabama. In 2019, his great-granddaughter, Meghan McKenzie, decides to go to Birmingham to hunt down the hidden truth about Harrington's life and unsolved murder. Head charts every step in Meghan's Birmingham investigation, from her gutsy, seemingly fated research to her finding friends and allies, including a Black woman activist, a white librarian destined to make painful discoveries about her family, and a distractingly sexy Black man working in the mayor's social justice office. Harrington's harrowing story of Jim Crow racism and violence is equally vivid and affecting. After being forced to leave Florida, he has finally brought his beautiful pregnant wife and their young daughter to Birmingham only to have trouble hunt him down one final time. As threats intensify against Meghan, Head dramatizes the ongoing horrors of white supremacy, police brutality, and the "conspiracy of hate," but she also spotlights the way people come together to fight for justice. This heart-seizing tale even has a touch of the supernatural as it celebrates Black lives. HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: Thanks to strong prepub buzz and its deeply resonant subject, Head's commanding novel will be on many ""must read"" lists.

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