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Dreda Say Mitchell's debut novel RUNNING HOT won her a CWA Dagger award. It was a striking and unusual book, but her second, KILLER TUNE, is on another level altogether. There's a cinematic quality to it as we see a 15-year-old boy firebombing an East London house as he listens to an R 'n' B track by a hip young artist. A well-known musician from the 1970s is found dead in an alley with a reggae classic playing in his pocket. And a rap star on the threshold of making it huge is the link between the two incidents. Lord Tribulation, known as LT to his mates (and born Jeremiah Scantleberry), is the artist behind Gasoline Ghetto, the track playing on the teenager's MP3 player when he carries out the firebombing which leaves two youngsters badly injured in hospital. And the dead man is Isaiah Scantleberry, better known as King Stir It Up – and LT's father. LT is desperate to find out the truth behind his father's death. With the help of journalist Berlina 'Bernie' Ray, his childhood sweetheart who's been out of his life for 15 years, the search takes them back to the summer of 1976 when racial unrest was threatening to ignite the streets of London. And they uncover some unpleasant secrets which put them both in danger. KILLER TUNE features a (sorry, sorry!) killer soundtrack behind it, and scenes that are seared into the reader's memory, including the teenager firebombing the house, and a terrified young LT in a skip singing along with a skinhead to Redemption Song. Mitchell handles the flashback scenes neatly and convincingly, evoking memories of police brutality, racism and National Front thugs that anyone over the age of about 40 would prefer to forget. And the key scenes set during the Notting Hill Carnival, both now and 30 years ago, are so vivid that you can hear the steel drums and picture the colourful costumes. Mitchell's plotting is cast-iron, if a little too neat – she doesn't believe in leaving any thread untied! And it's a touch hard to accept LT's assertions that his father would never have gone back to Hoxton, the suburb where he's found dead, because of past memories. East London's not that big a place, and it's difficult to believe that he wouldn't have passed through there at some time since 1976. Schoolboy, the hero of RUNNING HOT, gets a bit part here. And it's noticeable that the street talk has been toned down considerably now that Mitchell is with a mainstream publisher. That's a shame, but not the end of the world, as she's a good enough writer to present a cast of characters who still sound thoroughly authentic. KILLER TUNE is red-hot and both elegant and elegiac. It's easily one of the best books I've read this year. Mitchell really is an outstanding talent and I hope her success shows other young black British writers that this is the genre for them.
Reviewed by Sharon Wheeler, September 2007
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Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)
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