Investigating the alleged suicide of a hip-hop star, Gunner uncovers a murder Carlton Elbridge, better known as C. E. Digga Jones, was too nice for gangsta rap. When he allegedly shot himself, he had millions in the bank, his face on the cover of Time magazine, and a nation of fanatics to mourn his death. He was found in a locked room, gun in his hand and bullet in his brain, and the police assumed it was suicide. Only the rapper's father thinks otherwise. Suspecting that his son was killed as the result of a hip-hop feud, Carlton's father hires private detective Aaron Gunner to investigate the death. As Gunner tries to juggle the case with security work for a conservative black talk-show host, he learns that for some in the hip-hop world, the thug life is much more than an act.
"Like the estimable Walter Mosley . . . Haywood is the real thing."
Publishers Weekly
"A thoroughly modern crime novel that is both compelling and moving."
The Washington Post Book World
"Haywood juices his compelling mystery with sharp dialogue, and Gunner's savvy intelligence makes it a pleasure to follow the PI through a maze of betrayals and greed."
