Wolf Point

In Smith’s sequel to The Unspoken, the adult children of Black Chicago politico Walter Griffin ask P.I. Ashe Cayne to look into their father’s mysterious death, two years after it was ruled a suicide. Neither Griffin’s family nor the residents of Chicago’s South Side believe he killed himself; Griffin’s wife is convinced someone in the mayor’s office ordered a hit on him. Golf lover Ashe has the time to invest in the case, since leaving the Chicago police force with a several million dollar settlement. As he digs into Griffin’s past, he finds that lots of people might have wanted him dead, including Russians who lost money on a land deal and wealthy mobsters who were owed money. Even the CEO of the Chicago Public Schools was an enemy. Ashe knows that murders can be connected to jealousy, hatred, money, or sex—with Walter Griffin, any of those could be the cause. Ashe’s dogged determination and dislike of political game-playing lead him to a surprising solution.