Ghettoside

Starred review from September 15, 2014
This absorbing first book from journalist Leovy traces the investigation and prosecution of a 2007 murder in South Los Angeles, registering along the way a powerful argument about race and our criminal justice system. Eighteen-year-old Bryant Tennelle was “just another black man down.” His shooting death inspired neither press attention nor vigorous police action—until, that is, his case was handed to Police Detective John Skaggs, the central figure in Leovy’s narrative. By following the relentless Skaggs, fleshing out all his quirks, and rendering the perpetrators, survivors, and witnesses of the murder vividly, Leovy spins a good yarn and illustrates how, by her lights, black-on-black homicide should be dealt with (but too seldom is). The state fails “to catch and punish even a bare majority of murderers” in urban black enclaves, and the result is “street justice”—informal legal systems, replete with their own laws and codes and punishments. Gang violence, in Leovy’s account, is thus not a cause of lawlessness; rather, it is “a whole system of interactions determined by the absence of law.” Like most ghettoside cases, the Tennelle case was eminently solvable—merely awaiting a determined investigator to whom the lives of black men were valuable, their murders something to be answered for. Readers may come for Leovy’s detective story; they will stay for her lucid social critique.

April 27, 2015
Lowman brings her considerable talent for taking on male voices to the audio edition of acclaimed journalist Levoy’s examination of violent crime in urban America. Levoy’s narrative centers on the work of a core group of dedicated homicide detectives on the streets of South Los Angeles and their relationships with victims, suspects, and the wider community. Lowman shines in her portrayals of John Skaggs, a white officer who takes great pains to transcend his conservative suburban image, and Wally Tennelle, a black officer whose decision to live inside the neighborhood he polices comes into serious question when his own teenage son Bryant is shot to death. Lowman also brings her gift for characterization to the rendering of Jessica Midkiff, a young prostitute struggling to rehabilitate herself who happens to be the principal witness to the murder of Tennelle’s son. The palpable tension of a no-holds-barred interrogation comes to life in impressive detail, and Lowman never misses a beat. A Random/Spiegel & Grau hardcover.