Humpty Dumpty was Pushed

Marc Blatte. Humpty Dumpty was Pushed. Tucscon, AZ: Schaffner Press, 2009.

Review by Sharon Clayton

“Humpty Dumpty was pushed. Nothing happens by accident and lightening can strike twice in the same spot.”

Who murdered the big man with the yellow socks? This story takes us from a hip-hop recording studio to a New York City nightclub to a socialite’s home in the Hamptons.

Detective Salvatore Messina, aka Black Sallie Blue Eyes, is a smart cop with a criminal profiler mind. He dreams of keeping the streets safe, but this case has got him working to keep his captain, the record producers and the socialites from breathing down his neck AND, as fate has it, his ex-wife is back in New York City.

Scholar, gritty ex-con, has a dream to be a top hip hop executive, but money and the higher ups are getting in his way. Even his cousin Biz, record producer, can’t help him reach his goal.

Vooko, Albanian nightclub bouncer, dreams about finding his cousin’s killer. Moving from a war torn country to the streets of New York City wasn’t much of a transition. It’s bad enough with the language barrier, but the traditions and ways of life are even more challenging.

Kal Kessler, wealthy socialite drug addict, dreams of earning his father’s approval. Unfortunately, he hangs with “the boys”, enjoys fast cars and hard drugs.

Marc Blatte’s first novel is “da bomb”. The suspense, colorful hip-hop slang, character nicknames and humorous banter kept me turning the pages. He has created the first “wonderful hip-hop noir mystery” that even a farm girl from Iowa couldn’t put down.

Available at Iowa City Public Library and Delaware County (PA) Public Library System.