Detective Charlotte Justice is called to investigate the death of Maynard Duncan, a Hollywood filmmaker and actor who once worked with her father and uncle. The medical examiner has labeled the death “suspicious.” Although Duncan died at home, he was once a patient in a facility where a serial killer murdered more than four elderly patients. The serial killer has been in prison for quite some time, but the M.O. causes the department to suspect the work of an accomplice or copycat killer in Duncan’s case.

The case comes at a good time for Charlotte. She is the only black woman in the LAPD=s Robbery Homicide Division, but she has been relegated to paper-shuffling duties in the Home Invasion Task Force after rebuffing the advances of her team leader. Justice and her partner, Gina Cortez, juggle their duties on a series of burglaries and the Duncan murder. They discover a web of secrecy, lies and betrayal that extend beyond their work.

Stormy Weather is a painstaking police procedural that reveals the loose ends, dead ends and snafues involved in police work. It gives an unblinking look at the second-guesses and fallibility of officers and detectives as they perform their duties. Stormy Weather offers a not-so-pretty look at department politics, sexual harassment, racism, and the thin blue line of “the Code.”

Stormy Weather shares its title with the 1943 film starring Lena Horne, Bill Robinson, the Nicholas Brothers, Fats Walker, Cab Calloway, and with Harold Arlen’s 1933 ballad. The investigation of Maynard Duncan’s death brings Charlotte into reel-life and real life Hollywood. The novel takes its spirit from the movie as it offers a fascinating glimpse into the African-American experience in filmmaking.

However, it is the song and its melancholy lyrics that mirror Charlotte’s private world. Her relationship with Dr. Aubrey Scott, which began in Inner City Blues has reached an impasse. Charlotte also endures a bit of “mama drama” at the hands of her mother Joymarie at the family home she lovingly calls “The Nut House.” As she tries to move her life forward past the tragic deaths of her husband and child, her pain and fears hold her hostage. Work, which had provided an outlet, is compromised by the animosity Charlotte and her team leader.

Paula Woods’ carefully plotted mystery takes the reader for the highs and lows of the investigation. There are a few surprises and turns that kept me guessing until the end. The strength of the novel is in its well-rounded characterization of Charlotte Justice as she tries to balance her professional and private lives.

It’s worth a look.

--Gwendolyn Osborne