by Louis Bayard
First published 2022
Augustus Landor thought his detective days were behind him. The former New York City investigator retired to the Hudson Highlands, a widower seeking peace. Then West Point Academy calls. A cadet's body hangs from a rope near the parade grounds in October 1830. The apparent suicide becomes something far worse when someone steals the corpse's heart. Academy officials need answers without scandal. Landor takes the case and finds an unlikely partner in Edgar Allan Poe, a brooding young cadet with sharp eyes and a drinking problem. The future poet proves surprisingly useful despite his murky past and shifting stories. Their investigation uncovers secret societies and ritual killings. More bodies appear as the case deepens. Landor's own buried secrets surface, threatening his bond with Poe. The two men, separated by age but matched in intellect, must navigate murder and betrayal while their friendship hangs in the balance.
Genres: american-fiction, historical-fiction, mystery, crime, thriller, detective, 19th-century, academic
Vibes: atmospheric, dark, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: enemies-to-lovers, found-family, unreliable-narrator
Setting: Hudson Highlands, New York City, West Point Academy
Period: 1830
Paperback · Baskerville