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NEW HISTORICAL MYSTERY TITLES
Bronzeville excels at Historical Fiction, recognized three times by the Historical Fiction Society for our work as authors. Browse our fiction titles, buy and read them, and subscribe to our book club to support the acclaimed work we're doing.
SPRING'S FEATURED TITLE: BUT NOT FOR ME, by ALLISON DAVIS
1958 San Francisco: Beatniks, Eisenhower, Fillmore District jazz and Major League baseball. As Mayor George Christopher fights an influx of organized crime and redevelopment begins to transform the city, racial and political tensions rise when a Black real estate magnate is murdered.
Kay Schiffner is a practicing lawyer by day, during a time when women were rarely hired as lawyers. At night, she secretly follows her passion for playing jazz at the Blue Moon in San Francisco's Fillmore District, a neighborhood where good white women weren't supposed to go.
Leitisha Boone is the Fillmore District's only Black female club owner, having started her career in her father's barbecue joint. She's not about to give up her successful and elegant Blue Moon when threatened by redevelopment and betrayed by men who don't believe women should run a business, even when threats turn deadly.
When Leitisha is arrested for murder, Kay's search for the truth leads her from city politics to the mafia, Beatnik poets to union graft. As pressure mounts from her boss, the police force, and organized crime, Kay must make an impossible choice: to save her hard-won job as a lawyer or to risk her own life and livelihood to try and save the friend and her club that gave her music.
But Not for Me is more than a crime story with a murder to solve. Told through the experiences of two women, the novel explores the dark side of gentrification in one of America's most colorful cities.
Other Historical Mysteries
These Bronzeville Books have been published to the highest acclaim in trade books. Enjoy these new classics in historical fiction.
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Since 2019, Bronzeville Books has successfully invested in content that has diversified trade books products, goods, and services. Bronzeville Books is funded by Allied Gardner LLC, which has supported Black American media since 1952.
My grandfather, John Laymon Gardner Sr., a decorated Black American fire captain and entrepreneur, spearheaded our efforts in warehousing and distributing products relevant to the Black experience. He envisioned a community of leaders in all sectors of America, which guides our investments today.
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ABOUT THE FOUNDER
Since my debut in Season 3 of HBO's Def Comedy Jam, I have led and managed investments in Black American-themed content and entertainment.
Additionally, I consult on supply chain management platform investments for companies like Praxair and Stellantis and startups like Cart.com. I've been a proud student of Columbia College, Kennedy-King College, Occidental College, and Art Center College of Design, neglecting graduation in every case.
My credits include the original House Party films, three documentaries on Black history, and the feature films 5150 (2003), one of Netflix's first streamed titles, How U Like Me Now (1992,) and Killing Joan (2018.)
I'm also the author of the Black American Mystery novel series The Tales of Elliot Caprice, including A Negro and an Ofay, Ace Boon Coon, and Talented Tenths. I've won short fiction awards. I've been nominated for awards in literary fiction, crime fiction, and poetry.
I live in Los Angeles. I was born in Bronzeville, Chicago. I grew up on 95th & Halsted, near Rev. Wright's Church. I'm John and Wally's little brother. I went to McDade Classical. Go Dolphins.