In the process, she unearths the long-held secrets of her family's history. Along with James Lanier, a cousin of one of the victims, Jackie tries to piece together the story of the boys' deaths. While trying to fulfill a request from his will, Jackie discovers that four African-American boys were killed in the store Frank owned during the Watts Riots of 1965. A young Japanese-American woman, Jackie Ishida, is in her last semester of law school when her grandfather, Frank Sakai, dies unexpectedly. Southland brings us a fascinating story of race, love, murder and history, against the backdrop of an ever-changing Los Angeles. Susan Straight, author of Highwire Moon Revoyr's novel is honest in detailing southern California's brutal history, and honorable in showing how families survived with love and tenacity and dignity.' 'n absolutely compelling story of family and racial tragedy. Los Angeles Times, named one of the 20 Essential LA Crime Books 'It is the kind of saga that often epitomizes and shocks LA-friction and violence between races and cultures.' New York Times Book Review, Ross MacDonald on 'Where Noir Lives in the City of Angels' 'Jackie Ishida's grandfather had a store in Watts where four boys were killed during the riots in 1965, a mystery she attempts to solve.' Stephanie Cha (of the LARB) in GQ on 'The Greatest Crime Novelists on Their Favorite Crime Novels Ever' It's a powerful book, one that I think about often, as well as a huge influence on my work. The central mystery is the death of four black boys in a Japanese-American man's store during the Watts Rebellion of 1965. It's a brilliant, ambitious, moving literary crime novel about two families in South Los Angeles and their tangled history between the 1930s and the 1990s. 'I'm an LA native with a lot of love for LA crime fiction, but instead of preaching to the noir choir about The Long Goodbye, I'd like to gush about Southland by Nina Revoyr.

Nina revoyr books