When Does "Darktown" (2016) Take Place?
"DARKTOWN" is a crime novel written by Thomas Mullen that released September 13th, 2016. So when is "Darktown" set?
It takes place in the year:
We know this because a little more than halfway through the story, the unnamed narrator says, "He'd trained there for hours over the three-month application process, annihilating countless Coca-Cola bottles, hoping his lack of combat experience wouldn't doom his chances." and the real-world beverage Coca-Cola was introduced to the public on May 8th, 1886 AD so it must be after May of 1886 AD while the character is applying to join the Atlanta police force 6 months before the opening scene.
1948 AD
We know this because a little more than halfway through the story, the unnamed narrator says, "He'd trained there for hours over the three-month application process, annihilating countless Coca-Cola bottles, hoping his lack of combat experience wouldn't doom his chances." and the real-world beverage Coca-Cola was introduced to the public on May 8th, 1886 AD so it must be after May of 1886 AD while the character is applying to join the Atlanta police force 6 months before the opening scene.
More specifically, the narrator tells us "They had been police officers for just under three months now," referring to Officer Lucius Boggs and Officer Tommy Smith. They are later identified as among the first African-American police officers in Atlanta, Georgia and the real-world first eight African-American officers in Atlanta were inducted into the service on April 3rd, 1948 AD.
4.1,948 + 3 months = 7.1,948.
Specifically, partway through the narrative Officer Dennis "Rake" Rakestraw says, "She was in his car, the evening of July ninth, in Darktown.", referring to the opening scenes of the book. So it is certainly early July of 1948 AD at the start.
Furthermore, the book’s second paragraph begins with the narrator saying, "Locusts continued their thrum in the thick July sir."
