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Shades Of Black: Crime and Mystery Stories by African-American Authors
A dazzling collection of crime and mystery stories by Black authors.Bringing together today's brightest talent from the field—from Walter Mosley, “one of America's best mystery writers” (The New York Times), to the late Hugh Holton, whose “gift for retaining suspense is golden” (Chicago Sun-Times)—it is the first anthology of African-American mystery writers. Shades of Black is not only a tribute to the art of storytelling, it's a fascinating foray into the rich and widely varied Black experience.Includes stories Frankie Y. Bailey • Jacqueline Turner Banks • Chris Benson • Eleanor Taylor Bland and Anthony Bland • Patricia E. Canterbury • Christopher Chambers • Tracy Clark • Evelyn Coleman • Grace F. Edwards • Robert Greer • Terris MacMahan Grimes • Gar Anthony Haywood • Hugh Holton • Geri Spencer Hunter • Dicey Scroggins Jackson • Glenville Lovell • Lee E. Meadows • Penny Mickelbury • Walter Mosley • Percy Spurlark Parker • Gary Phillips • Charles Shipps
380 pages, Kindle Edition
First published February 3, 2004
42 people are currently reading
493 people want to read
About the author
Eleanor Taylor Bland
21 books67 followersEleanor Taylor Bland was an African American writer of crime fiction. She was the creator of Lincoln Prairie, Illinois (based on Waukegan, Illinois) police detective Marti McAllister.
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
i-get-the-picture
January 7, 2026There are three major collections of black crime and noir short story anthologies:
Paula Woods, Spooks, Spies, and Private Eyes: Black Mystery, Crime, and Suspense Fiction of the 20th Century (1995)
Eleanor Taylor Bland, Shades of Black: Crime and Mystery Stories by African American Writers (2005)
Otto Penzler, Black Noir: Mystery, Crime, and Suspense Fiction by African-American Writers (2009)
They are all uneven, but Penzler’s is probably the best. Black writers did not come, with only a very few exceptions, to crime fiction until Walter Mosley in 1990; but the popularity and productivity of black writers in this space has exploded since then. Black writers of noir is even more problematic. Noir as we generally conceive of it was mostly a white genre. Writings of despair to come out of the black community seem to have a very different origin and valence — so far as I can tell.
I don’t know why this is so, since there is nothing more noir than the jazz of the 1950s.
But here again, there are multiple new voices in this space that have appeared in the last 30 years. Though I haven’t read much of it.
In Otto Penzler’s volume, the following stories are most often recommended. I’ve only the first of these, and it is very good.
Edward P. Jones, “Old Boys, Old Girls” (orig. in The New Yorker, 2004)
Gary Phillips, “House of Tears” (2006)
Gar Anthony Haywood, “The First Rule Is” (2009)
Eleanor Taylor Bland “The Canasta Club” (2000)
Paula L. Woods, “I’ll Be Doggone” (1998)
Rudolph Fisher, ”John Archer’s Nose” (1935) — a lot of readers seem to prefer this story (as tighter and leaner) to Fisher’s GAD-like The Conjure-Man Die (1932). For the latter, you may want to use the Library of Congress edition, with its notes and introduction.
Paula Woods, Spooks, Spies, and Private Eyes: Black Mystery, Crime, and Suspense Fiction of the 20th Century (1995)
Eleanor Taylor Bland, Shades of Black: Crime and Mystery Stories by African American Writers (2005)
Otto Penzler, Black Noir: Mystery, Crime, and Suspense Fiction by African-American Writers (2009)
They are all uneven, but Penzler’s is probably the best. Black writers did not come, with only a very few exceptions, to crime fiction until Walter Mosley in 1990; but the popularity and productivity of black writers in this space has exploded since then. Black writers of noir is even more problematic. Noir as we generally conceive of it was mostly a white genre. Writings of despair to come out of the black community seem to have a very different origin and valence — so far as I can tell.
I don’t know why this is so, since there is nothing more noir than the jazz of the 1950s.
But here again, there are multiple new voices in this space that have appeared in the last 30 years. Though I haven’t read much of it.
In Otto Penzler’s volume, the following stories are most often recommended. I’ve only the first of these, and it is very good.
Edward P. Jones, “Old Boys, Old Girls” (orig. in The New Yorker, 2004)
Gary Phillips, “House of Tears” (2006)
Gar Anthony Haywood, “The First Rule Is” (2009)
Eleanor Taylor Bland “The Canasta Club” (2000)
Paula L. Woods, “I’ll Be Doggone” (1998)
Rudolph Fisher, ”John Archer’s Nose” (1935) — a lot of readers seem to prefer this story (as tighter and leaner) to Fisher’s GAD-like The Conjure-Man Die (1932). For the latter, you may want to use the Library of Congress edition, with its notes and introduction.
July 6, 2020
Not bad. Like most anthologies there's a real wild card aspect to the selections. I liked about half of the stories which range from cozies to a children's story (which I liked) to noir ... even including a supernatural werewolf story.
January 2, 2023
3.75 stars
Solid collection!
Solid collection!
May 17, 2020
When I read a short story collection, I look up the authors whose stories I enjoyed to see what else they’ve written and how available their books are. The only author I recognized in this series was Walter Mosley. There are others I want to follow—and my main frustration is that most of them aren’t available in my library. I strongly recommend checking out this book to find some wonderful new detective/mystery protagonists. My next hunt will be various ebook vendors to see if I can find some of the series they’ve written.
July 29, 2017
This is a masterfully crafted anthology dedicated to a mystery author I was gifted to know upon meeting him when his first novel was published, Captain Hugh Holton.
Writers of color have interesting perspectives on history, crime and mystery. These stories are not for the faint of heart. They are gritty, raw, compassionate, sentimental, dirty, direct, obtuse -- just name it! I would recommend all writers and lovers of mystery try this collection.
Writers of color have interesting perspectives on history, crime and mystery. These stories are not for the faint of heart. They are gritty, raw, compassionate, sentimental, dirty, direct, obtuse -- just name it! I would recommend all writers and lovers of mystery try this collection.
March 17, 2020
What a fantastic set of Authors for this book back in the day some of these stories are so good I didn't want them to end. I wanted them to continue with more character development. I can't wait to research some of these authors so I can get their books. To name a few, Percy Spurlark Parker, Glenville Lovell, Robert Greer, Gar Anthony Haywood, and Jacqueline Turner so many more I have encountered reading this book. I truly enjoyed these different authors' stories.
February 15, 2023
Read these: Introduction: What a Difference a Decade Makes by Eleanor Taylor Bland (2004)
“Since You Went Away” by Frankie Y. Bailey (2004)
“Bombardier” by Walter Mosley (2002)
“The Cookout” by Jacqueline Turner Banks (2004)
“Murder on the Southwest Chief” by Eleanor Taylor Bland (2004)
“Double Dealing” by Chris Benson (2004)* — this was my favorite that I read
“Since You Went Away” by Frankie Y. Bailey (2004)
“Bombardier” by Walter Mosley (2002)
“The Cookout” by Jacqueline Turner Banks (2004)
“Murder on the Southwest Chief” by Eleanor Taylor Bland (2004)
“Double Dealing” by Chris Benson (2004)* — this was my favorite that I read
January 19, 2026
2023 Reading Challenge - A book that takes place entirely in one day (many of the mysteries take place in one day)
March 31, 2020
This was ... amazingly uneven. Sorry, fans of Hugh Holton, but "Werewolf Files" was really terrible: flat, unfunny, with uninteresting characters. And the kids' story was equally terrible.
Some of the good stuff: "Since You Went Away," "Murder on the Southwest Chief," "Doggy Style" (which had elements of horror missing from the Holton), and "For Services Rendered." These are, in fact, some of the first stories in the book, which made it seem like an excellent anthology. Unfortunately, the stories that didn't work for me showed up later and outnumbered the stories that did.
Two things: didn't anybody think to edit this? Some stories were difficult to follow, with scenes suddenly happening, either because of formatting problems (missing scene breaks) or because these were really rough first drafts. And the proofreading was pretty bad. And, second: who on earth decided to put the stories in alphabetical order by author? A good anthology flows thematically. This was amateurish.
I hope I can find books by the authors I enjoyed; I love a good mystery.
Some of the good stuff: "Since You Went Away," "Murder on the Southwest Chief," "Doggy Style" (which had elements of horror missing from the Holton), and "For Services Rendered." These are, in fact, some of the first stories in the book, which made it seem like an excellent anthology. Unfortunately, the stories that didn't work for me showed up later and outnumbered the stories that did.
Two things: didn't anybody think to edit this? Some stories were difficult to follow, with scenes suddenly happening, either because of formatting problems (missing scene breaks) or because these were really rough first drafts. And the proofreading was pretty bad. And, second: who on earth decided to put the stories in alphabetical order by author? A good anthology flows thematically. This was amateurish.
I hope I can find books by the authors I enjoyed; I love a good mystery.
November 30, 2020
This is a helpful anthology
Short story form mysteries by black authors. It's edited by one of my favourite mystery writers, white or black, and she is my favourite contemporary mystery writers.
As an anthology, this volume includes a variety of styles, hard bitten, police procedure, deliberately farcical, even a juvenile. I don't like all of those genres, but the collection helped me find a couple new-to-me authors to look for, and it's a nice representative selection.
(I bought my copy for kindle because the price went down to five dollars)
Short story form mysteries by black authors. It's edited by one of my favourite mystery writers, white or black, and she is my favourite contemporary mystery writers.
As an anthology, this volume includes a variety of styles, hard bitten, police procedure, deliberately farcical, even a juvenile. I don't like all of those genres, but the collection helped me find a couple new-to-me authors to look for, and it's a nice representative selection.
(I bought my copy for kindle because the price went down to five dollars)
January 2, 2021
Good collection
As with any collection, I liked some better than others, but overall it was a great intro to a lot of new writers. Definitely on the gritty/hard-boiled side, more urban than rural/suburban. One thing I noted, in contrast to anthologies I've read by white writers, is that far fewer of these writers have Kindle books available. Not surprised, but that needs to change.
As with any collection, I liked some better than others, but overall it was a great intro to a lot of new writers. Definitely on the gritty/hard-boiled side, more urban than rural/suburban. One thing I noted, in contrast to anthologies I've read by white writers, is that far fewer of these writers have Kindle books available. Not surprised, but that needs to change.
May 20, 2024
There are 23 stories by 23 African-American authors and I read them all. The collection presents a good representation of those engaged in crime and mystery fiction as of 2004. Whatever edition, the collection is an excellent addition for anyone interested in this genre.
August 1, 2023
I don't abandon books often but I gave up on this anthology after 100 pages. A promising concept but the stories I read felt contrived and dated.
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews