 November 2002
Promises to Keep
by Gloria Malette
In Promises To Keep, Gloria Mallette's follow up to Shades Of Jade, we find Troy Kirkwood, a recently divorced father of a 5 year murdered in cold blood while at the movies with his daughter. What follows after this is a study of how murder, hayhem, and mystery play havoc in a close-knit African-American family. Iit's amazing how ill-will find a place to right wrongs, and in this case it shows how one family becomes unglued and the joy of seeing it put back together in a series of configurations that sets this novel apart from others ranging in the same genre.
Setting the stage for this story involves the tragic loss of a son and father, the struggle to keep the family together, and the tracking of a meticulous killer who is adept at covering his tracks. Familial obligations, the strength of love, and strong family ties give this novel a lot of flavor. The more I read, the more I surmised that it's not so much a mystery as it reads more of the resolve it took for the Kirkwoods to act as a unified force in keeping the homefront intact.
A great storyline, a moving plot, and character driven, the author does an excellent job of exploring the range of strengths and weaknesses of each family member as they wrrestle with the pain of loss. The youngest son Vann, headstrong with a temper to match, play a pivotal part with his exuberance and zeal to play the ultimate detective at the expense of the real detective originally assigned the case. Nola and Ron, parents of the deceased must face their own shortcomings displaying envious tendencies, flings of jealousy, deceit, and insecurity based on guilt feelings for not being good parents in their way of thinking.
The story moves along in the beginning at a reasonable clip but tend to slow and bog down in the middle stages when the author focuses too much on the sappy scenes depicting intra-family nuances that could have been left out all together. After reading many non-fiction books with heavy subject matter for the last few months, I was ready for the change of pace, something light---not to be confused or implied as poorly written. Promises to Keep was full and I completed the book with a good sense of satisfaction. The characters were nicely drawn. I can't argue with the logic, narrative, or direction of the story. Promises to Keep was a soundly constructed story and moved at a nice steady clip. I relished it and anxiously look forward to Mallette's next novel.
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