Westside Lights

The Alienistmeets the magical mystery ofThe Ninth Houseas W. M. Akers returns with the third book in his critically acclaimed Jazz Age fantasy series set in the dangerous Westside of New York City, following private detective Gilda Carrs hunt for the truthone tiny mystery at a time.Like a literary shot of Prohibition-era rotgut moonshinebracing, quite possibly hallucination-inducing, and unlike anything youve ever experienced before. Kirkus Reviews(starred review)onWestsideThe Westside of Manhattan is desolate, overgrown, and dangerousand Gilda Carr wouldnt have it any other way. An eccentric detective whose pursuit of tiny mysteries has dragged her to the brink of madness, Gilda spends 1923 searching for something thats eluded her for years: peace. On the revitalized waterfront of the Lower West, Gilda and the gregarious ex-gangster Cherub Stevens start a new life on a stolen yacht. But their old life isnt done with them yet.They dock their boat on the edge of the White Lights District, a new tenderloin where liquor, drugs, sex, and violence are shaken into a deadly cocktail. When her pet seagull vanishes into the District, Gilda throws herself into the search for the missing bird. Up late watching the river for her pet, Gilda has one drink too many and passes out in the cabin of her waterfront home.She wakes to a massacre.Eight people have been slaughtered on the deck of theMisery Queen, and Cherub is among the dead. Gilda, naturally, is the prime suspect. Hunted by the police, the mob, and everyone in between, she must stay free long enough to find the person who stained the Hudson with her beloveds blood. She will discover that on her Westside, no lights are bright enough to drive away the darkness.