Book Review: To Do Justice (Chicago Trilogy, #3) by Frank S. Joseph

TO DO JUSTICE by Frank S. Joseph
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Chicago, during the summer of 1965, was feeling the heat of change.

To Do Justice is the third volume in author Frank S. Joseph’s mesmerizing Chicago Trilogy and takes readers to the West Side neighborhoods of the Windy City during the sweltering, on-the-edge summer of 1965. All eyes were on Chicago that summer, and in the middle of it all was young Pinkie and AP reporter Mollie Hinton.

In the midst of the turmoil, 12-year-old Pinkie longs to discover the identity of her birth mother and the life she knows is hers. She’s witness to the events that capture the attention of the world. Mollie, a young, white female reporter, relegated to the mundane in the newsroom as she’s a woman in a man’s game, has the right instincts and her fingers of the pulse of the community through contacts she’s made by listening and talking to the people who live there. When these two eventually got together, and Molly decided to tackle the mystery of Pinkie’s origins, I didn’t want to put the book down.

The author brings in historical figures as the events of that summer are recreated, the writing so evocative I almost felt as if I were there. Early on, scenes came to life with the tension (and residual exhilaration) of the rioting, and background characters were on edge and ready to act in unpredictable ways, with realistic dialogue propelling the emotions and action. I quickly became invested in what was going to happen with both Pinkie and Mollie, fearing that any minute, something awful was about to go down with them right smack in the middle of it all.

I recommend TO DO JUSTICE to readers of literary fiction, especially those interested in the tumultuous times of the mid-60s and in Chicago in particular.

I voluntarily reviewed this after receiving an Advanced Review Copy from the author through Goddess Fish Promotions Book Tours.

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