A Negro and an Ofay: The Tales of Elliot Caprice    by Danny Gardner Order:  USA  Can Down&Out Books, 2017 (2015) Softcover      Reviewed by Mary Ann Smyth Chicago Police Officer Elliot Caprice feels it's bad enough to be disgraced but to wake up in jail is going too far. His hometown friends rescue him. He returns to the family farm to find it in foreclosure and his beloved uncle living in a flop house! Accepting a job as a process server, he runs into a powerful family. A captain of industry is found dead and his wife wants Caprice to find her driver, who may have witnessed something but has gone missing. Caprice is a mixed-race son of Illinois farm country and plays both sides of the street. I have to admit, I had a slightly hard time getting into this book but I suddenly realized that I had fallen for it, hook, line, and sinker. Hated to put it down. The time is 1952, when I was a new bride who thought the world was wonderful and that I had a great life ahead of me. The plot is clever. While providing a gripping story, A Negro and an Ofay by Danny Gardner also gave me more than a glance into the racial problems that were rife at that time. Have they improved? Like to think so, but I'm not so sure. This is a good read that also makes the reader re-evaluate political and racial times and decide just how far they have come from those days. Note: Opinions expressed in reviews and articles on this site are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of BookLoons. Find more Mystery books on our Shelves or in our book Reviews