The Emperor of Ocean Park

by: Stephen L. Carter

Published by: Vintage

Reviewed by Mark M. Owen, Ph.D.

Stephen Carter’s The Emperor of Ocean Park is a solid mystery novel. Clocking in at over 800 pages, it’s a substantial tale about an upper middle-class African-American family snarled in a web of intrigue and political machinations. An elderly judge is murdered and his youngest son takes on the task of solving the crime. That the judge had ties to the a man who worked for the CIA, and that the son is a scholarly law professor, only scratches the surface of the interesting cast of characters Carter leverages in the story. Clues are left for the protagonist to digest, but forces are aligned against him, as are many hidden agendas.

Some reviewers have classified this novel as a legal thriller, but it is neither. There is no drama in the courtroom, nor does the story quibble over the finer points of law. What there is are informative discussions about legal topics taught at law school, but even these are not central to the story. The novel is also not a thriller, where heroes and villains battle for monumental consequences. The Emperor of Ocean Park is just a good old-fashioned whodunit.

The novel employs the first person perspective, and readers who enjoy descriptive prose will be especially pleased. It’s very easy to believe a law professor is doing the narrating. Carter takes his time relating people, places and events, but he also takes his time resolving the mystery. Key questions raised early in the book are not resolved until the end, hundreds and hundreds of pages later. In between the main character seems to coast instead of race for the answers, and page long paragraphs are prevalent.

I would have preferred a bit more urgency, but the book is so well written it was still a pleasure to read.

Armchair Interviews says: Plan for a long reading session as this book is 800 pages of great writing and a good story.