by Lyndsay Faye
First published 2013
Lucy Adams arrives at the Tombs terrified and beautiful. The headquarters of New York's new police force becomes Timothy Wilde's starting point for his most dangerous case yet. Timothy has seen the worst of his unforgiving city. Immigrants pour into the docks daily. Each community fights for survival in the new world. Some fall victim to the clash between old and new. But slave catchers prowl the streets now. These blackbirders profit from human misery. They snatch people and sell them into bondage. Timothy must enter their world to stop them. His brother Valentine Wilde joins the investigation. Together they navigate the darkest corners of old New York. The case pulls Timothy deeper into a web of crime and corruption. He refuses to accept the injustices around him. The blackbirders represent the worst threat the city has seen. Timothy will risk everything to bring them down.
Genres: american-fiction, historical-fiction, mystery, crime, thriller, 19th-century
Vibes: atmospheric, dark, fast-paced, suspenseful
Tropes: enemies-to-lovers, found-family, investigation
Setting: New York, The Tombs
Period: 19th Century
399 pages · Hardcover · Headline
Content warnings: racism, slavery, violence