'Joel Rose has caught the wild spirit of nineteenth-century New York with terrific panache.' Anthony Bourdain, author of Kitchen Confidential
New York City, 1841. When the body of young, beautiful Mary Rogers is found savagely murdered, High Constable Jacob Hays is charged with finding her killer. His journey will take him to the darkest corners of the city. In a sweltering climate of suspicion, ugly secrets come to light at every turn; and, mysteriously, Hays finds all paths leading to that hopeless romantic and minstrel of the night: Edgar Allan Poe.
'A stew of vicious murders, arson, prison breaks, grave robbing, police corruption and internecine warfare between nineteenth-century New York gangs... The Blackest Bird is a big, cantering tale.' Financial Times
'A thrilling whodunit.' Independent on Sunday
'Dense with clues, making the deciphering exhilarating. An engaging window onto the petty pilfering and brutal bloodshed of a young New York.' Daily Telegraph
Autorentext
Joel Rose's first novel, Kill the Poor, spent four months on the Voice Literary Supplement bestseller list. His journalism has appeared in the New York Times, New York Magazine, New York Newsday, and various other publications. He has written for several television shows including Miami Vice and Kojak and he was an editor at D.C. Comics where he wrote stories for both the Superman and Batman comic strips.
Zusammenfassung
Sweltering New York City, summer of 1841, the beautiful 'Segar Girl' Mary Rogers is brutally murdered. Popular amongst the journalistic and publishing elite, the task of finding her killer falls to High Constable Jacob Hays. At the end of a long and distinguished career Old Hays's investigation will ultimately span a decade, involving gang wars, grave robbing, and clues hidden in the poems of the hopeless romantic and minstrel of the night, Edgar Allan Poe.Superbly researched and compellingly readable, The Blackest Bird is both a richly textured and atmospheric portrait of the birth of New York, a city raging with bloodshed and duplicity, and a thrilling murder mystery.