Joe King Oliver has some reservations about his latest case. He has been tasked with locating a divorcée and her seven-year-old daughter with whom she absconded from her husband in California. King finds Marigold Hart working as a high-end escort, but his instincts prevent him from alerting his employer to his discovery. He believes he is not being told everything and decides to aid them while learning more about their potential predicament.

King’s work is not the only complication in his life as he learns that his beloved Grandma B is battling cancer and faces surgery with an uncertain outcome. As he is left reeling from her diagnosis, she requests that he locate his father, Chief Odin Oliver. King believes that Chief is still rotting in prison for a double shooting decades earlier, which left him and his mother devastated. So he is astounded when Grandma B informs him that Chief has been released. He will need to push aside his simmering anger to comply with her wishes.

"Mosley’s genius is in creating a mystery that appears to be straightforward on the surface but is layered with complex people and motives. With BEEN WRONG SO LONG IT FEELS LIKE RIGHT, he continues his streak of engrossing literature."

King must dive into the past in order to track down his father. He has to hit up people he hasn’t seen in years, along with some who operate either in or on the fringes of the criminal underworld. The urgency to find him only increases with the news that police are searching for him in connection with a murder. As King gets closer and closer to Chief, the possibility of a reunion looms large in his thoughts.

Meanwhile, the case of the missing mother and daughter is no walk in the park. The motives of Marigold’s husband, Anthony Orr, are moot, and his past is murky, including the suspicious death of a previous wife. King’s romantic involvement with Marigold only further muddies the situation. As he contemplates a plan for Marigold and her little girl, he will need to rely on his closest allies to protect them before reaching out to Anthony. Both cases will keep King sleeping with one eye open.

BEEN WRONG SO LONG IT FEELS LIKE RIGHT is the latest exciting entry in Walter Mosley’s excellent series. The allure of a protagonist such as Joe King Oliver is his persistence, a refusal to settle for the easy outcome when there are loose ends to be tied up. He is a level-headed man with a big heart who pursues justice for the wronged and will pull out all the stops in doing so. While reconciling his feelings towards his father, King reflects on the man Chief was. Both men possess a wealth of reason and logic, and they inspire fierce devotion from their friends and loved ones. The memories of a younger King and Chief are significant and impactful without being maudlin.

Mosley’s genius is in creating a mystery that appears to be straightforward on the surface but is layered with complex people and motives. With BEEN WRONG SO LONG IT FEELS LIKE RIGHT, he continues his streak of engrossing literature.