Kenneth Wishnia 
23 Shades of Black 

By turns hilarious and gritty, 23 Shades of Black is a kick-ass cop novel with a Latina heroine struggling against the odds.Taking place in New York City in the early 1980s and partly written in response to the reactionary discourse of the time, 23 Shades of Black is not a political tract but an astounding novel that was nominated for the Edgar and the Anthony Awards, and made Booklist’s Best First Mysteries of the Year. With episodes set in the punk rock scene of the time, the focal murder case turns into an investigation of corporate environmental crime from a working class view.