BOOK REVIEW: Stephen Carter's PALACE COUNCIL

Stephen Carter's novel Palace Council is the third in his series of "Darker Nation" mysteries. The first were The Emperor of Ocean Park and New England White, both of which I have read and reviewed previously on this blog.

I liked both of Carter's previous mysteries (although I must confess a preference for the first, simply because of the multiple chess references) and haven't picked up his fourth work of fiction, Jericho's Fall, because it is in a completely new genre which I am uninterested in (spy thriller).

Palace Council is not as good as it's two predecessors. This time, instead of a straightforward murder mystery with a pinch of political intrigue and family drama in the mix, Carter has decided to write a faux historical novel.


The two main characters are Aurelia Treene and Eddie Wesley. Aurelia marries Kevin Garland, who is the son of "perhaps the richest Negro in the United States" in the 1950s. The Garland family played central roles in Carter's first two books. Eddie is in love with Aurelia, but he's also a dedicated writer. He ends up with two National Book Awards before he's 40 and a wanderlust which has him interacting with all the major characters of the era, including Joseph P. Kennedy, Richard Nixon, Edgar Hoover, Langston Hughes and many more.


However, the problem is that Carter has lost focus on what made his first two "Darker Nation" novels so interesting: they were centered around the Darker Nation! This idea is a clever concept that African-Americans have created their own, parallel social strata and power structures in America which are entangled  but distinct from the white hierarchy which rules America. It is Carter's mordant portrayal of this Darker Nation which animates his other novels and its absence in Palace Council leads to a plodding tale.


I do hope that Carter returns to his previous setting in future mysteries; for now, I would only recommend reading Palace Council for completeness. Otherwise just stop at reading The Emperor of Ocean Park and New England White, the first two in the series.


Title: Palace Council
Hardcover: 528 pages.
Publisher: Knopf.
Published: July 8, 2008.

OVERALL GRADE: B.