Ash Dark as Night /// Gary Phillips

In the follow-up to One-Shot Harry, fearless crime photographer and occasional private eye Harry Ingram finds himself in the LAPD’s crosshairs after capturing damning evidence of police brutality.

An atmospheric dive into a city on the brink that’s brimming with remarkable historical detail, Ash Dark as Night is perfect for fans of Walter Mosley and James Ellroy.

Los Angeles, August 1965. Anger and pent-up frustrations boil over in the Watts neighborhood after a traffic stop of two Black motorists. As the Watts riots explode, crime photographer Harry Ingram snaps photos at the scene, including images of the police as they unleash batons, dogs, and water hoses on civilians. When he captures the image of an unarmed activist being shot down by the cops, he winds up in the hospital, beaten, his camera missing. Proof of the unjust killing seems lost—until Ingram’s girlfriend, Anita Claire, retrieves the hidden film in a daring rescue. The photo makes front-page news.

A recuperating Ingram is approached by Betty Payton, a comrade of Anita’s mother, who wants Ingram’s help tracking down her business associate Moses “Mose” Tolbert, last seen during the riots. Ingram follows the investigation down a rabbit hole of burglary rings, bank robberies, looted cash, and clandestine agendas—all the while grappling with his newfound fame, which puts him in the sightlines of LAPD’s secretive intelligence division.

Ash Dark as Night is a nail-biting ride-along through midcentury Los Angeles with a crime fiction legend in the driver’s seat.

BIO

Gary Phillips is the author of the Ivan Monk mysteries,Violent SpringandPerdition USA. He has also worked as a security guard, printer, a shade tree mechanic (rebuilding a ?58 Ford Fairlane with his father), a labor union organizer, a radio talk show host, a foundation staffer, and a community activist for over 22 years. He lives in the wilds of Los Angeles with his wife Gilda Haas, and their children Miles and Chelsea.

REVIEWS

“Outstanding . . . Phillips folds real historical figures, including TV journalist Louis Lomax, and events into a complex narrative of shifting alliances that captures the urgency and volatility of the mid-’60s. The results rank with the best of Walter Mosley in the canon of Los Angeles noir.” -- Publishers Weekly, Starred Review

“Like Walter Mosley, his obvious model, Phillips is less interested in telling a story than evoking a world—and what a world!” -- Kirkus Reviews

“Hardboiled, gritty, and fresh, Phillips’s latest is for fans of action/detective stories.” -- Library Journal

[H]  Soho Crime  /  April 02, 2024

1.18" H x 8.43" L x 5.59" W (1.05 lbs) 312 pages