First published 2012
Detective Meyer Landsman finds a dead chess prodigy in his flophouse hotel room in Sitka, Alaska. The victim was a heroin addict with exceptional chess skills. Landsman lives in this same rundown building where the murder occurred. The case leads him into the world of Orthodox Jewish gangs that control the streets. These criminals wear traditional side-curls and knee breeches while running their operations. The investigation points toward Rebbe Gold, a charismatic religious leader whose sect operates like organized crime. Landsman pursues the truth behind the killing even when it threatens his career. His ex-wife Bina runs Sitka's homicide unit and becomes his superior officer. Landsman must navigate both the criminal underworld and his complicated relationship with Bina to solve the case. This alternate history imagines Alaska as the Jewish homeland instead of Israel, following Franklin Roosevelt's actual proposal after World War Two.
Genres: fiction, historical-fiction, mystery, crime, detective, alternate-history
Vibes: emotional, fast-paced, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: enemies-to-lovers, fish-out-of-water, unreliable-narrator
Setting: Alaska, Sitka
Period: Alternate History
400 pages · ebook · Fourth Estate
Content warnings: addiction, drug-use, violence