“Set in 1927, Holloway’s disquieting debut examines the seamy side of the Harlem Renaissance. . . The freewheeling ensemble narrative explores the shifting alliances among race and elite social circles. This spiritual successor to Nella Larsen’s 1929 novel, Passing, will keep historical mystery fans guessing.”-Publishers Weekly“The secrets that emerge, it turns out, are all about race: racial pride, racial identity, racial passing, and the problematic relations between a Harlem community yearning for self-expression and the white institutions determined to police it while keeping it at a safe distance. . . Holloway brings her period, place, and people alive and provides as a bonus a most unexpected culprit.”-;Kirkus Reviews“Holloway’s debut novel will take you on a journey that reveals a fresh, richly layered, and rarely seen- or imagined- view of early twentieth-century black life and society. Fascinating characters, rich period detail, secrets, scandals, power, privilege, poverty, and plenty of plot twists make for an unforgettable and unflinching glimpse into a world that many will find surprising, mysterious, and possibly even mythical. Others of us know how real this world was, is. Nella would be pleased.”- Virginia DeBerry, coauthor of Better Than I Know Myself“A Death in Harlem is both a period novel and a deeply contemporary story with a symphony of memorable characters. The musical, personal voice of Karla Holloway animates this gripping tale full of mystery, humor, and saturated with African American cultural memory.”- Emily Bernard, Julian Lindsay Green and Gold Professor of English at the University of Vermont and author Black is the Body: Stories from My Grandmother’s Time, My Mother’s Time, and Mine