Ed Lacy’s Room to Swing won the Edgar for Best Novel in 1958. It is now republished by Poisoned Pen Press as a part of their Library of Congress Crime Classics series.
The lead in the book is small time detective Toussaint Moore. He is a war hero, educated, and man of color in 1950s New York City. He has a nice car, is slowly building up his business, and an deals with an on again off again relationship which is getting serious enough to make marriage a concern. A woman comes to him asking for a tail on a criminal. She claims that it is for a true crimw related television show and gives a fair amount of pay in advance.
The woman who hires Toussaint is named Kay, and has a partner named Bobby yet nicknamed “Butch” which had lesbian connotations already in the 1950s. In spite of momentary confusion the lead is fairly respectful about the relationship, stunningly so for the conformist 1950s. Neither he nor the narrative make judgment of the lesbian relationship that the two have, though Toussaint comes out of the novel with the definite negative feelings towards Kay. This will surprise many readers in a widely disseminated crime novel from 1957, yet is earnest and heartfelt.
An amusing moment in the story comes when someone is compared, negatively, to Truman Capote. That will seem strange for some modern readers given his most famous work is In Cold Blood. It is however important to remember that that book was released in 1966, and this in 1957. At the time Capote was more known as a short story writer and columnist, as well as a bit of a personality and dandy. The difference in image for the figure is undoubtedly key to understanding this reference.
One of the only major difficulties reading this book in the modern day would be the way that believable era terminology is used. In addition to racial slurs, there is the actual problem of slang and terminology which is simply become archaic. This new edition of the book is the best way to read the volume for precisely the reason that it goes out of its way to annotate and explain such references, as well as provide detailed forwards and afterwards explaining the career of the author and the impact of the book.
Racial tensions follow Toussaint at every turn, both from white individuals and other men of color. While white, Lacy’s writing was so respectful and detailed regarding the black community that he was frequently placed on lists of black authors. Luminaries such as Ralph Ellison and Ed Gorman are quoted in the book, discussing the quality and depth of his work. While a crime novel foremost, the believable and accurate depiction of the world at the time insures that a message on race is present.
Room to Swing is a brilliant novel in the genre. Featuring well drawn characters, a well-constructed mystery, and gorgeous prose it is recommendable to anyone who is slightly interested. There are historical reasons to read this book, and mystery novels with a black lead are still perhaps rare than they should be. All of that comes secondary to the quality and enjoyability of this volume.
(Poisoned Pen Press 2022)
