A Dangerous Road

Smokey Dalton, Book 1

By: Kris Nelscott

Narrated by: Mirron Willis

Private Investigator Smokey Dalton works for Memphis, Tennessee’s black community. He has almost no interaction with the white hierarchy, even though they exist only blocks away. So he’s surprised the day a white woman walks into his Beale Street office. Laura Hathaway has sought him out because he’s a beneficiary in her mother’s will, and Laura wants to know why. So does Smokey. He’s never heard of the Hathaways, but his search will take him on a journey that will change everything he’s ever known.

Set against the backdrop of the strike and protests that will end with Dr. Martin Luther King’s assassination, A Dangerous Road combines the politics of race, betrayal, unexpected love, and the terrible cost of trust into a story so memorable the Mystery Writers of America chose it as one of the top five novels of the year.

©2000 Kristine K. Rusch (P)2013 Audible, Inc.

Critic reviews

"More than just offering a puzzle, this novel encourages self-examination about identity, responsibility, and the consequences of choices. Smokey proves himself a man of conscience able to make tough choices." (Publisher’s Weekly)

"It's not hard to draw parallels between Nelscott’s PI Smokey Dalton and Walter Mosley’s Easy Rawlins, another secretive, canny black man trying to solve mysteries while circumspectly navigating the white world. But Dalton’s no knock-off. (Would you label the hundreds of hard-boiled detectives who’ve appeared in Raymond Chandler’s wake mere Marlow Xeroxes because they’re white?)" (Entertainment Weekly)

Excellent

Fiction wrapped in history! Loved it! I was leery at first but was quickly won over by good story telling.

great read!

A story that redefines the meaning of family and takes a man on a search to find the reason for the murder of his parents and what his ties may be to a wealthy family who anonymously gifts him with money.

Good book, but...

This was a good book, the narrator made it enjoyable; however, it didn't get good for me until chapter 8. That's a little too long to wait for a book to start getting good. I like the ties to history mingled in with the story.

Great story

The story was well told. The narrator was perfect. Once you start the book you do not want to put it down.

I was surprised.

I didn't know what I expected, but was really surprised when the book ended because I couldn't stop listening. It is a good book. I plan to get more of Kris Nelscott's books.