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A Landlord's Tale

by Gammy L. Singer

Gammy L. Singer, author of A Landlord's Tale, is an accomplished actress only recently turned writer. After reading her initial work, I can only wonder why Ms. Singer didn't start writing earlier. A Landlord's Tale not only takes you into Harlem, it surrounds you with its essence – both good and bad. The story captivates from the very beginning; a delightful initial entry into the murder-mystery field. Gammy Singer may have had to fight racial prejudice for most of her acting life, but here there's little doubt her abilities extend well beyond the stage. A Landlord's Tale is a gem.

Amos Brown has just been left two Harlem brownstone properties – willed to him by a father he only met once. Amos, being in debt to a wealthy bad guy named Harry the Monkey Chaser, has just pawned most of his belongings in hopes of raising enough money to pay him off, and he'd expected that the bequest would complete the necessary amount. But he arrives in Harlem with a greeting painted on the trunk of an oak outside his properties – one across the street from the other – a greeting that says “Nigger Landlord.”

Amos meets Seltzer, a small man who cleans and does the chores around the properties as caretaker – and who hasn't been paid since Amos' father died. Amos also meets Catherine, a beauty who enchants him, the only obstacle being that she's also Harry's niece. He meets Miss Ellie, one of his renters and a former dancer for the Cotton Club, Wilbur, a rather flamboyant gay Texan, and Patty – a young mother down on her luck with a child named Josie. Amos also meets Zeke, who claims to have been his father's best friend. Zeke also says that Amos' father let him stay at one of the brownstones rent free. Some of the tenants pay rent on time – some don't. Some of the apartments are empty.

Then Amos and Seltzer discover a skeleton sealed up in a basement wall, and things get really interesting – especially when it comes out that the skeleton is related to Amos.
Harry the Monkey Chaser is rich from his sale of drugs, but after Amos lost his numbers racket he wants to go straight, even though selling drugs for Harry is a temptation. Voodoo also pops up it's ugly head, and Amos gets caught in the middle of it. Add to that the fact of Amos' former wife moving into one of his apartments, making his current love, Catherine, jealous.

Toward the end of the story Amos finds himself on a boat handcuffed to a corrupted Drug Enforcement Agent while attempting to find cash from a drug deal gone bad. The net result is that Harry comes after Amos and there's a knock-down, drag-out which Amos wins, thanks mostly to Harry's belief in voodoo. Amos also knows by the end of the book who the skeleton's killer is, who's his real father, and that Catherine is meant to be the love of his life.

Gammy L. Singer has written a very enjoyable, readable saga about a very likeable man named Amos Brown. A Landlord's Tale has every requirement for the mystery buff, and Ms. Singer's way of telling his story is in itself a requirement – for you to read.

Alan Paul Curtis

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