Book reviews: In LA and Alaska mysteries, darkness descends in different ways

‘Ash Dark as Night’ by Gary Phillips. Soho Crime, 312 pages, $27.95 

Prolific author Gary Phillips again shows his considerable skills with historical fiction set in the Black community through the lens of Los Angeles freelance photographer and part-time private investigator Harry Ingram.

Phillips’ meticulous research opens a window into events of the mid-1960s, showing the politics, changing culture and attitudes of the day. Racism and the search for justice fuel Phillips’ series...