I remain indebted to everyone at my British publishers, Hodder & Stoughton, including my editor, Sue Fletcher, as well as Swati Gamble, Carolyn Mays, Rebecca Mundy, Myrto Kalavrezou, Alice Morley, Catherine Worsley, Dominic Smith, Alasdair Oliver, and all the sales team. At Atria/Emily Bestler Books, my editor Emily Bestler continues to provide a welcome home for my work, aided by Lara Jones, David Brown, Gena Lanzi, and Milena Brown. Huge thanks to you all. My agent, Darley Anderson, and his crew remain steadfast as always. With the aid of my non-English-language publishers, of whom I am immensely fond, they have brought my books to readers around the world.

Dominick Montalto has, for many years, done his utmost as copy-editor to save my blushes, as has Sarah Wright. Any errors that persist do so only because my frailties know no bounds. I would also be lost without Ellen Clair Lamb, who looks after so much author-related business for me; my son Cameron Ridyard, who has designed, and maintains, my website; his brother, Alistair, who keeps me endlessly amused; and Jennie, who keeps me sane, mostly. Jennie, Clair, and Cliona O’Neill additionally read this manuscript in an effort to make the task of copy-editing a little easier.

Finally, thanks to you, the reader, for continuing to support my work, and to the booksellers and librarians who give my books a place on their shelves. Long may you all sail.

John Connolly, 2021

Introducing Charlie Parker …

It is 1997, and someone is slaughtering young black women in Burdon County. In an Arkansas jail cell sits a former NYPD detective, mourning the death of his wife and child, and searching in vain for their killer.

He cares only for his own lost family. But that is about to change …

Buy The Dirty South now

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