Love(ly) Child – Emanuel Xavier (Rebel Satori Press)

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Rebel Satori Press

It’s been seven years since we last had a new collection from Xavier and, as much as I enjoyed 2021’s Selected Poems of Emanuel Xavier, I was looking forward to reading some fresh work. So, this autumn Rebel Satori Press delivers Love(ly) Child, a slim yet weighty release whose sad, slightly angry-looking cover by artist Timothy Cummings (which I now can’t stop thinking of as The Manny Lisa) is as multilayered as the poems inside.

The best of Xavier’s work tempers his propulsive anger with another, more positive note such as healing or justice. In many of these new pieces, he’s added fresh tones of domesticity and a certain elegiac quality when dealing with one of the natural consequences of aging–the deaths of friends and those who have come before you.

It’s a relief the rebellious writer of “Americano” is now trying on sunhats in Target and taking selfies with the husband. I thought the rage was gonna kill that poor guy, so watching his emotional development as he heads “...back to the house to throw a playlist/on the iPad, playing mah-jongg with the kids,/Luna under the table, Duke by the back porch window/and ordering DoorDash for dinner…” (“Labor Day Weekend, Connecticut, 2022”) is immensely satisfying.

There are, however, consequences to settling down in that it affords more opportunities for conflict, such as “Dinner With Apparent Descendents Of The Mayflower” or “Apres Le Feu,” but these skirmishes are minor complete with some battles Xavier (and, indeed, all of us) have fought in the past. Xavier never fails to pay heed to the marginalized, especially in the hard-hitting “Ella,” a tribute to his mother and “Hanging At The Piers With Jay, 1991.” As Xavier gets older and broadens his range of experiences, his voice changes. His rage is still apparent, but it’s no longer as pure. It’s tinted with subtle touches of contentment and a rasp of regret.

Love(ly) Child, then, is both a summation of where the poet has been, and an indication of where he’s going. It will be interesting to see what the next volume has to say.

JW

© 2023 Jerry L. Wheeler

Transitory – J.M. Redmann (Bold Strokes Books)

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Bold Strokes Books

Any season that has not only a new Cari Hunter but a new J.M. Redmann Micky Knight mystery is a holiday indeed, so, we’re fortunate this year. You can count on both Hunter and Redmann for fine stories, intricate plots, interesting characters, and timely subjects. This time out, Redmann turns to the trans community for a tense, well-paced mystery whose components all come together for a satisfying ending–except for Micky and her ex, Cordelia, but that’s for later.

Hard-boiled NOLA private investigator Micky Knight is walking home from her local bar–not infrequent for her–when she witnesses a body being shoved out of a black SUV and run over by a second SUV following it. The cops just dismiss it as another sex worker crime, but Micky has a hunch it’s not. Coincidentally, she takes on a missing persons case wherein rich, hoity-toity Mrs. D’Marchant hires her to look for her missing grandson. Turns out grandson is transitioning to granddaughter and may not want to be found. As Micky investigates both cases, she finds only her new allies in the police department as well as the trans community can help her bring the criminals to justice.

Micky Knight is a wonderful character. She’s so flawed and real that I’ll follow her anywhere–through tense confrontations with a fellow PI or the boring review of bar surveillance tapes. She drinks hard, eats poorly, and makes terrible choices sometimes, but she pulls through with her compassion and hard work. Except where her ex, Cordelia, is concerned.

I have to confess I’m one of those “get-them-back-together” readers even after a couple of books now with Cordelia’s marginal participation (she only appears in a few scenes here). However, I’m slowly coming around to the idea they’ll only be cordial with each other with no grand resurrection of their relationship. I guess it’s okay. The mysteries and the strength of Knight’s character are enough to fill any volume, and this narrative moves quickly and surely enough without Cordelia’s assistance.

And Redmann knows her locale. It’s a desperate reviewer’s cliche that some settings are characters in and of themselves, but I think everyone can agree New Orleans is one of those cities whose complexity rivals the plots taking place there. Such intricacy reflects itself in Knight who, in many respects, embodies the excesses of her city as well as its cautions.

So, once again Redmann knocks one out of Washington Square Park as Micky Knight continues to slouch her way toward oblivion, headed for what she’s not sure. The mystery is interesting, the characters real, and the setting as seedy as you’d expect. What could be better? Highly recommended.

JW

© 2023 Jerry L. Wheeler

New Releases for December

From Bywater Books:

Two Wings to Hide My Face – Penny Mickelbury

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From The Library of Homosexual Congress:

The Body and Its Dangers and Other Stories – Allen Barnett

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From Bold Strokes Books:

Fire in the Sky – Radclyffe and Julie Cannon

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Playing With Matches – Georgia Beers

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Coasting and Crashing – Ana Hartnett

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The Memories of Marlie Rose – Morgan Lee Miller

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Like They Do In The Movies – Nan Campbell

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Haunted By Myth – Barbara Ann Wright

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Invisible – Anna Larner

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Grave Consequences – Sandra Barret

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The Murders at Sugar Mill Farm – Ronica Black

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Every Beat of Her Heart – KC Richardson

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Limelight – Gun Brooke

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From Queen of Swords Press:

Death at the Dionysus Club – Melissa Scott & Amy Griswold

Buy/Preorder