Nightshade
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- Pre-Order
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- Expected May 20, 2025
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- $14.99
Publisher Description
Introducing Detective Stilwell: a cop relentlessly following his mission in the seemingly idyllic setting of Catalina Island.
Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Detective Stilwell has been “exiled” to a low-key post policing rustic Catalina Island, after department politics drove him off a homicide desk on the mainland. But while following up the usual drunk-and-disorderlies and petty thefts that come with his new territory, Detective Stilwell gets a report of a body found weighed down at the bottom of the harbor—a Jane Doe identifiable at first only by a streak of purple dye in her hair. At the same time, a report of poaching on a protected reserve turns into a case fraught with violence and danger as Stilwell digs into the shady past of an island bigwig.
Crossing all lines of protocol and jurisdiction, Stilwell doggedly works both cases. Though hampered by an old beef with an ex-colleague determined to thwart him at every turn, he is convinced he is the only one who can bring justice to the woman known as “Nightshade.” Soon, his investigation uncovers closely guarded secrets and a dark heart to the serene island that was meant to be his escape from the evils of the big city.
Propulsive and atmospheric, Nightshade launches a brand new character into the Connelly universe, and proves without question that Michael Connelly is “the undisputed master of the modern crime novel” (Real Book Spy).
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
When a sunken body is found by a diver, an isolated detective takes on the case—and his department—in this multilayered police procedural. A loner by nature, LA County Sheriff’s Detective Stilwell likes the relative peace and isolation of Catalina Island, where he’s been sent as punishment after a botched homicide case on the mainland. But when a woman’s body is found sunken in the harbor, his little island has to deal with a major crime, and Stilwell must prove to his antagonistic former colleagues that he’s the man for the job. Superstar author Michael Connelly always brings heart and wit to his best-selling police procedurals, and this first outing for Stilwell is no exception, introducing a smart, determined, and highly moral protagonist with a case designed to push all his buttons. As Stilwell methodically works his way through the case, Connelly not only gives us the thrilling step-by-step of investigative work but also mines the tensions of a complicated job—and the struggle to prove oneself in a hostile environment.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In this winning series launch, L.A. noir maestro Connelly (the Harry Bosch series) proves small-town policing can be just as high stakes as crime solving in the big city. L.A. County sheriff's detective Stilwell has been transferred to Santa Catalina Island after running afoul of higher-ups. At first, Stilwell resents being exiled, but he learns there's plenty to keep him busy after the body of a young woman is discovered wrapped in an anchor chain in the island's harbor. Soon, Stilwell discovers the victim was a hostess at the island's exclusive, century-old Black Marlin Club, where a statue was just reported missing. Then there's the illegally decapitated buffalo on the island's nature preserve. Might it all point toward a deeper level of corruption on the island? Though protocol dictates that mainland cops investigate the murder, Stilwell doesn't trust them, and risks further discipline in the name of untangling the mystery. The claustrophobic setting and layered plotting evoke the crime novels of John D. MacDonald, and Stilwell makes for an intriguing hero, with enough biographical gaps for Connelly to sketch him in further in subsequent installments. The author's fans will be thrilled to find him working in a new register.
