Crime Writer Rachel Howzell Hall Explores South L.A.’s Gentrification

By Jamilah King Jul 29, 2014

Rachel Howzell Hall spoke with NPR’s Code Switch team about her new book "Land of Shadows." It’s her fourth novel and is set in her hometown of Los Angeles, where black homicide detective Elouise "Lou" Norton tries to solve the case of 17-year-old Monique Dowler in a rapidly gentrifying part of town. 

"I want people to realize that, one, there’s a story in this part of Los Angeles and that there are heroes in this world, just as there are villains," Hall told Code Switch’s Karen Grigsby Gates. "And a lot of times, [in] L.A., you see Echo Park, you see Hollywood, but you don’t see Southwest Los Angeles, and you don’t see cops who have great compassion like Lou does, and cops who come from the areas in which they patrol. So I want people to not make assumptions about this city and about the people who live here."

You can hear Hall’s interview and read an excerpt of the new novel over at Code Switch