Howard Owen‘s sequel to his charged crime novel, Oregon Hill”, is “Parker Field” and it dives right into Richmond’s baseball past (no, not the questionable future).
“Parker Field” is the third in Owen’s series featuring Willie Black, an alcoholic reporter for a struggling Richmond newspaper. In this new one, the character becomes personally involved with a shooting, the motive for which goes back to the days of the Virginians baseball team.
Doug Childer’s review in the Times Dispatch picks up on Owen’s sense of place:
Often, it feels as if you could read the Willie Black series with Google Street View open on your laptop and track Black’s movements, page by page. Or use the books to stage Willie Black tours.
A sample: “I drive over to Oregon Hill. The weather, fickle as ever, has turned from late winter to full-blown spring overnight. Along Laurel Street, the camellias are blooming and the trees seem to have turned into a yellow-green canopy, shading the sidewalks their roots are slowly destroying.”
For Richmond readers, it’s a particular thrill. Don’t be surprised if you glance up apprehensively at the ninth-floor windows of the Prestwould the next time you walk through Monroe Park, though.
