In this episode, I speak with author Leslye Penelope about her latest novel, The Monsters We Defy, set in Washington DC during the 1920s shortly after the DC riot of 1919. People are disappearing from an all-Black community in Washington, DC and they all seem to go into a zombie-like trance right before disappearing. Clara Johnson, a woman who can communicate with spirits, decides to solve this mystery after several people from her community come to her asking for help. And what comes after is a whodunnit, Agatha Christie-type story with twists, turns and lots of magic as Clara and her team of unlikely allies– including a hypnotic jazz musician and an aging actor with the ability to change his face–race against time to solve an insidious mystery that could change the fate of the entire city.
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