Murder, D.C.

The follow-up to last year's acclaimed The Ways of the Dead, this gritty mystery showcases Tucker's talent for spot-on dialogue, authentic characters, and complex narrative. When Billy Ellison, the son of Washington, D.C.'s most influential African-American family, is found dead in the Potomac near a violent drug haven, veteran metro reporter Sully Carter knows it's time to start asking some serious questions-no matter what the consequences. With the police unable to find a lead and pressure mounting for Sully to abandon the investigation, he has a hunch that there is more to the case than a drug deal gone bad or a tale of family misfortune. Digging deeper, Sully finds that the real story stretches far beyond Billy and into D.C.'s most prominent social circles. An alcoholic still haunted from his years as a war correspondent in Bosnia, Sully now must strike a dangerous balance between D.C.'s two extremes-the city's violent, desperate back streets and its highest corridors of power-while threatened by those who will stop at nothing to keep him from discovering the shocking truth.

About the Author :
Neely Tucker's journalism career spans more than 25 years, including 14 at the Washington Post (where he still works) and eight as a foreign correspondent. His memoir, Love in the Driest Season, was one of Publishers Weekly's Best Books of 2004.

Review :
When I reviewed this veteran Washington Post reporter's debut a year or so ago, I called him 'a fine new talent'. This, his second, utterly confirms that promise… Gripping from start to finish, it has a great line in snappy dialogue and a twist that puts Tucker in the finest Elmore Leonard tradition. Explosive ... Murder, D.C. is another excellent offering from Neely Tucker; his style and characters are simply engrossing. Here there are even more liars to expose, more puzzles to solve and more interesting characters to enjoy. Neely Tucker is that rare and wonderful being, an author who seems almost to be writing his own life story, such is his empathy with his main character. Sully lives and breathes. The style is as fractured as he is, the plot as edgy. This is a gritty novel, full of suspense and depth… Ladies and Gentlemen, this novel lives. Go along for the ride. It will be worth it. His debut Ways of the Dead was a cracker, now the follow up fizzes with danger. This second novel from a veteran newspaper reporter has remained lodged in my mind all year…Razor-sharp dialogue and a taste for delicate irony that would make Elmore Leonard envious.