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Reviewed by K T Bowes for Readers' Favorite
In Justice for Emerson, Karen E. Osborne presents a cast of characters that crosses many cultural lines, highlighting past and existing taboos between Black and White Americans, especially in the realm of relationships. Aria is a plucky Black woman striving to make a difference in a White, male-dominated world. Her focus is on using a struggling charitable trust to influence the circumstances of those suffering from poverty and a lack of opportunity. But when she finds a quiet and reliable volunteer murdered at her shelter, she confronts his killer and fights back, putting a target on herself. Emerson’s death seems to have no explanation. Who would kill a homeless recovering addict who’d turned his misfortune into the fuel needed to help others? Ordinarily, no one would care about the death of an insignificant and invisible man. But Aria cares and, in seeking justice for Emerson, she uncovers a conspiracy with roots stretching back over fifty years.
Justice for Emerson is fast-paced, with snappy dialogue and raw honesty. It’s packed with valuable historical information about the US involvement in the Vietnam War, the political temperature amongst the active forces, and the devastation felt by Black soldiers at the assassination of Martin Luther King and JF Kennedy. It gives a perspective of abandonment, which I had never truly recognized before, and provides an understanding that I will take away with me. Karen E. Osborne’s clever threads connect two generational stories from the past to the present and span over fifty years, culminating in the murder of an unassuming man. The main character of Aria is compassionate, vulnerable, and smart while being heartbroken and filled with self-recrimination. The tangle of the love triangle between Aria, Jax, and Errol is a clever reflection of the historical one between Mo, Emerson, and Kiki decades earlier. And fate, coincidence, and rotten bad luck bring a fifty-year mystery forward to the present day.
