Book Review: Murder at the Wham Bam Club

After the death of her brave Harlem Hellfighter husband during the First World War, young widow Nola Ann Jackson returned to her hometown of Agate, Illinois, to live with her Aunt Sarah, a known local psychic. Under her aunt’s care and tutelage, Nola has been learning how to tap into her own intuitive gifts and communicate with the spirits. And she will rely on their insightful guidance when she’s asked to help investigate a woman’s disappearance.

Lilly Davidson, the missing woman, was living at the Phyllis Wheatley Institute for Colored Girls where young ladies are educated and prepared to follow bright futures. But she vanished after a night at the Wham Bam Club where jazz music swings, prohibition is defied, and other vices are encouraged. Lilly was seen fraternizing with Eddie Smooth, trumpeter and leader of the St. Louis Stompers—and a notorious pimp. Nola finds Lilly at the club alive and well, supposedly engaged to Eddie. That same night, the Wham Bam is set afire and Eddie is killed by gunfire, leaving Lilly on the run, a suspected murderer.

Murder at the Wham Bam Club by Carolyn Marie Wilkins will be published July 29, 2025. Kensington Publishing provided an early galley for review.

An interesting title and cover is what drew me to this mystery set in the roaring '20s. The setting and time period offered up a different flavor of tale.

Looking at the Wilkin's published work to date, I can see that music, mystery and psychic abilities are areas she has focused so far with the mid-west and 1920's also common in the settings. These appear to be elements the author enjoys drawing upon. If the reader finds them of interest too, then there might be a good match here.

The story moves along at a good pace, introducing more of the characters in Agate as Nola moves through her investigation. The reader comes away with a good sense of them which will prove beneficial should there be a sequel (the book is labeled as Psychics and Soul Food Mysteries book 1 so it appears the author hopes to continue Nora's adventures).

As someone who focuses a lot on writing (due to my own writing endeavors), I had observations that might not get picked up by the average reader. For example, I felt that Nola's ability to read psychic auras came across as a too convenient manner to tell me details rather than narratively show me. There were places where the dialogue came across as exposition heavy. I also could not help but notice when the passive sentences were cropping up a good bit. As these are some of the areas I watch for when editing my own work, they jump out when I am reading published works too.