Can’t Wait Wednesday – DEAD DEAD GIRLS by Nekesa Afia

“Waiting On” Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted at Breaking the Spine, which encourages fellow bloggers to spotlight upcoming releases that we’re excited about.  It is a meme that I have  loved participating in since I first started blogging, but as Jill is no longer actively posting, from now on I’ll be linking to Can’t Wait Wednesday, hosted by Tressa at Wishful Endings, which is a spinoff of the original WoW meme.

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My selection for this week is DEAD DEAD GIRLS by Nekesa Afia.  The striking cover for Dead Dead Girls is what first caught my attention, but I was sold as soon as I read the description and saw that it’s the first book in a new historical mystery series and that it’s set during the Harlem Renaissance.  The ultimatum that Louise is given intrigues me as well. It sounds like it’s going to be an exciting series.

DEAD DEAD GIRLS by Nekesa Afia

Publication Date:  June 1, 2021 by Berkley

From Netgalley:

The start of an exciting new historical mystery series set during the Harlem Renaissance from debut author Nekesa Afia.

Harlem, 1926. Young black women like Louise Lloyd are ending up dead.

Following a harrowing kidnapping ordeal when she was in her teens, Louise is doing everything she can to maintain a normal life. She’s succeeding, too. She spends her days working at Maggie’s Café and her nights at the Zodiac, Harlem’s hottest speakeasy. Louise’s friends, especially her girlfriend, Rosa Maria Moreno, might say she’s running from her past and the notoriety that still stalks her, but don’t tell her that.

When a girl turns up dead in front of the café, Louise is forced to confront something she’s been trying to ignore—two other local black girls have been murdered in the past few weeks. After an altercation with a police officer gets her arrested, Louise is given an ultimatum: She can either help solve the case or wind up in a jail cell. Louise has no choice but to investigate and soon finds herself toe-to-toe with a murderous mastermind hell-bent on taking more lives, maybe even her own….

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I’d love to hear what upcoming book releases you’re waiting on this Wednesday? Leave me your link in the comments below and I’ll stop by and check out your CWW selection for this week. 🙂