In The Game

By Nikki Baker

Book Overview

A Virginia Kelly Mystery, Book 1 - When businesswoman Virginia Kelly meets her old college chum Bev Johnson for drinks late one night, Bev confides that her lover, Kelsey, is seeing another woman. Ginny had picked up that gossip months ago, but she is shocked when the next morning's papers report that Kelsey was found murdered behind the very bar where Ginny and Bev had met. Worried that her friend could be implicated, Ginny decides to track down Kelsey's killer and contacts a lawyer, Susan Coogan. Susan takes an immediate, intense liking to Ginny, complicating Ginny's relationship with her live-in lover. Meanwhile Ginny's inquiries heat up when she learns the Feds suspected Kelsey of embezzling from her employer. Nikki Baker is the first African-American author in the lesbian mystery genre and her protagonist, Virginia Kelly is the first African-American lesbian detective in the genre. Interwoven into the narrative are observations on the intersectionality of being a woman, an African-American, and a lesbian in a "man's" world of finance and life in general. First published to acclaim in 1991, this new edition features a foreword by the author.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1951092287
• ISBN13: 9781951092283
• Release Date: August 2020
• Publisher: Requeered Tales
• Length: 186 Pages
• Weight: 0.60 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.4" x 5.0" x 8.0"

Customer Reviews

WHAT ARE FRIENDS FOR?

Ginny's best friend, Bev, has a problem. Her white lover, a well known lesbian executive is found dead near a lesbian bar. A mutual friend, Naomi, believes Bev will be suspect. After all she is Black and is more likely to shoulder the blame since the two had problems. Once she is blamed then Ginny and Naomi may be found guilty by association. Ginny refuses to believe this and begins her own investigation in finding the real killer. While pursuing this course she runs into her own set of personal problems. She dumps her own white lover for a crazed female lawyer who is continuously stalking her. She also has problems of being a lone Black lesbian who has few Black friends to relate to and feels unfulfilled in her relationships with one white lover after another. Follow her through the twists and turns of Chicago and Boston as she attempts to solve this mystery. Nikki Baker has given us a decent first novel in a new series featuring a Black Lesbian Detective. It is well worth the read and touches on a wide variety of issues involving race, class, sexuality and self-esteem. No doubt we will hear more about Virginia "Ginny" Kelly.