Blind Moon Alley

The latest sequel in the Prohibition-Era crime series is “hard-boiled enough to remind readers of Hammett and Chandler,” featuring the biracial bartender up against a corrupt cop (Kirkus Reviews).

Jersey Leo knows what it means to be the underdog. After all, he’s the guy known on the streets as “Snowball,” a biracial albino working the bar at Philadelphia’s Ink Well, a Prohibition joint serving up moonshine to a mostly Black clientele. So when death row inmate Aaron Garvey calls to ask for one last favor, Jersey can’t say no. Aaron may be a convicted cop-killer, but he’s also the childhood friend who stood up to Jersey’s bullies. As a Black kid with the kind of colorless features only the mother who abandoned him could love, Jersey had a lot of enemies.

And the numbers keep growing, though this time it’s crooked cops looking to break Jersey’s legs—or worse—after Aaron springs himself from prison just moments after he and Jersey share his last meal. But that doesn’t stop Jersey from hiding the escaped convict while he uncovers the real story about what happened that night Aaron pulled the trigger. Even Jersey’s father, a former boxing champ, is on his side this time, along with Jersey’s childhood crush, Myra Banks. With his dad in his corner and a good-looking dame on his arm, will Jersey uncover the truth before it’s too late?

“Compelling. . . . Florio has an unerring feel for the era and people, and we believe in these characters. Readers will cheer for Leo, a tough guy with a heart of hurt.” —Publishers Weekly (starred review)

“Hits a comfortable niche between hard-boiled and breezy.” —The Philadelphia Inquirer