Synopses & Reviews
From Edgar-nominated author Lyndsay Faye comes the next book in what Gillian Flynn calls a brilliant new mystery series.”
Six months after the formation of the NYPD, its most reluctant and talented officer, Timothy Wilde, thinks himself well versed in his city's dark practices until he learns of the gruesome underworld of lies and corruption ruled by the blackbirders,” who snatch free Northerners of color from their homes, masquerade them as slaves, and sell them South to toil as plantation property.
The abolitionist Timothy is horrified by these traders in human flesh. But in 1846, slave catching isn't just legal its law enforcement.
When the beautiful and terrified Lucy Adams staggers into Timothy's office to report a robbery and is asked what was stolen, her reply is, My family.” Their search for her mixed-race sister and son will plunge Timothy and his feral brother, Valentine, into a world where police are complicit and politics savage, and corpses appear in the most shocking of places. Timothy finds himself caught between power and principles, desperate to protect his only brother and to unravel the puzzle before all he cares for is lost.
Review
"This is a series for the ages, it's so spectacular. Amazing." Gillian Flynn
Review
“As was the case in The Gods of Gotham, Faye folds a blistering indictment of prejudice and persecution of the defenseless within a satisfying complex mystery....Vividly atmospheric; the thieves slang all by itself evokes 19th-century New York with wonderful specificity. Let's hope Faye finds more dirty work for her intriguingly conflicted hero.” Kirkus Reviews
About the Author
Lyndsay Faye is the author of critically acclaimed Dust and Shadow and is featured in Best American Mystery Stories 2010. Faye, a true New Yorker in the sense that she was born elsewhere, lives in Manhattan with her husband, Gabriel. To learn more about Lyndsay Faye, please visit www.lyndsayfaye.com.