What's behind the boon in Black mystery writers?

THERE'S a crime wave sweeping the nation. The nation's bookstores, that is. In suspense-thrillers, police procedurals, and good old-fashioned cozy whodunits, more Black writers than ever have turned to a life of crime. They are prowling the Black experience for compelling stories, arresting our attention in the process. For Black readers and writers alike, it seems, crime really does pay.

"Mysteries are the most popular books in America," notes best-selling author Walter Mosley. "Black people are no different from anybody else in that respect."

Indications are, for Black writers, it's trending up. In 1992, there were only two Blacks who were writing mysteries on a regular basis: Gar Anthony Haywood with his "Aaron Gunner" series and, of course, Mosley with the "Easy Rawlins" stories. Today, more than 45 Blacks have published mysteries, many of them doing series fiction, with characters who live to fight another day--in a sequel. Black mystery writers are becoming brand-name authors, with above-the-title credits--marquee status--building strong, loyal fan bases, among Black and White readers, very much in the tradition of the Black Godfather of mystery writing, Chester Himes, whose Cotton Comes to Harlem was a crossover hit. Now, 24 contemporary writers with varied styles and stories have been assembled by mystery writer Eleanor Taylor Bland in a collection titled Shades of Black: Crime and Mystery Stories by African-American Writers, due out after the first of the year. An example of the growing interest in the genre.

"There are just all sorts of variations," Bland notes. "I wanted to show; the diversity within the diversity."

What is the key, though, to the increasing popularity of Black crime stories? It's not a mystery, really. All clues lead to Walter Mosley. Mosley's popularity exploded with his Devil in a Blue Dress and A Red Death shortly after Bill Clinton told reporters covering his 1992 presidential campaign that he just loved Mosley's hard-boiled Easy Rawlins character and that post-World War II California "noir" setting. Clinton's endorsement made Mosley the people's choice, and created new interest in Black mystery, and a demand for new voices that publishers were eager to meet.

"If Clinton were running, I'd vote for him all over again," says Grace Edwards, author of the "Mali Anderson" mysteries, who wasn't even thinking about the genre when a Doubleday editor came looking for a Harlem-based series. Now she's done five.

These days, mystery fans can find spellbinding Black stories in all areas of the genre. And the characters are no less varied. Often they are people in situations so familiar to Black readers, which explains their growing appeal. There is "Tamara Hayle," Valerie Wilson Wesley's single parent, ex-cop investigator; "Angela Bivens," the cool-under-pressure F.B.I. agent Christopher Chambers created for his suspense series; "Blanche White," Barbara Neely's "domestic" sleuth; and the late Nora DeLoach's "Mama" series featuring a kindly older heroine. There even are the hip-hop heroics of former rapper, now self-published mystery writer Renay Jackson's stories set in Oakland.

The very real feel of Black mystery only starts with the characters. It moves forward through gripping plot-lines that often seem--as one TV show likes to boast--"ripped from the headlines." Experiences that come close--dangerously close--to the real-world lives of African-Americans. Like the Rodney King back story of Paula Woods' Inner City Blues, the book that launched her "Charlotte Justice" series.

Then there's the gritty reality of the "Larry Cole" series written by the late Chicago Police District Commander and author Hugh Holton. Like so many Black mystery writers, Holton was known for pulling from his own experiences to breathe life into fiction. Unlike so many others, he had ready access to some of the most intriguing stories. Street level. In your face. Like the one that inspired his writing. His first arrest in a bloody murder case. A Holton story is included in Shades of Black.

Many agree a good mystery resonates with Black readers who raise questions about their own lives. "This is a very philosophical thing," Mosley says. "How do you do the fight thing in an imperfect world? In a world where what people say is right is wrong. That's what the detective is always discovering."

It's also what sets Black characters apart. Giving them edge. They struggle with very real problems. "For me, it's impossible to write a novel that's not political," notes Mosley. Others agree. That's one reason why F.B.I. Agent Angela Bivens, finds herself in a class action affirmative action suit against the agency in Sympathy for the Devil. Author Christopher Chambers feels it's important to examine such issues. "I'm an African-American. This is my experience. You just can't shut that out," says the former Justice Department attorney, who, like Mosley, is a contributor to Shades of Black.

Beyond the larger issues, there is the everyday stuff. Like the women who must balance relationships and work, or who must deal with social issues. Not that family life is going to slow down the modern Black heroine. The Black female protagonist is a lot more physical and gets into a lot of physical trouble, pretty much in the male tradition.