When the Thrill Is Gone

by Walter Mosley

First published 2011

Leonid McGill sits in his New York office watching his world crumble. The economic downturn has dried up legitimate cases, leaving only criminals from his past knocking on his door. His stepson Twill has abandoned school for suspicious money making schemes. His dying friend Gordo occupies his couch. His wife has found another man and threatens the family's stability. Then a beautiful young artist walks in with cash and a story about fearing for her life. She claims her wealthy art collector husband keeps her on an allowance, but she believes she will end up dead like his previous two wives. McGill knows clients lie, but he cannot refuse the money. As he investigates her claims, his family crisis deepens around him. The case forces him toward revelations that will shake everything he thought he understood about truth and survival.

Genres: suspense, mystery, crime, detective

Vibes: dark, emotional, suspenseful, thought-provoking

Tropes: family-secrets, unreliable-narrator

Setting: New York

359 pages · Hardcover · Riverhead Books

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