New York, the sweltering summer of 1841: Mary Rogers, a beautiful counter girl at a popular Manhattan tobacco shop, is found brutally murdered in the Hudson River. John Colt, scion of the firearm fortune, beats his publisher to death with a hatchet. And young Irish gang leader Tommy Coleman is accused of killing his daughter, his wife, and his wife's former lover. Charged with solving it all is High Constable Jacob Hays, the city's first detective. Capping a long and distinguished career, Hays's investigation will involve gang wars, grave robbers, and clues hidden in poems by that master of dark tales, Edgar Allan Poe. With a multilayered plot and rich, terse prose, The Blackest Bird is both a gripping mystery and a convincing portrait of the New York underworld in its early days. At its heart is Hays' unlikely connection with Poe, who like many other men was in love with Mary Rogers. In its deeply textured world, full of bloodshed and duplicity, only a few innocent relationships — such as Hays' tender bond with his daughter — provide any comfort and hope.

"Irresistibly seductive…a masterpiece." —Anthony Bourdain In the sweltering New York summer of 1841, five people are found brutally murdered. At the center of it all is High Constable Jacob Hays, the young city’s first detective and the novel’s "likeable, crusty narrator" (Time Out New York). His investigation spans years, involving gang wars, graverobbers, and clues hidden in poems by that hopeless romantic and minstrel of the night: Edgar Allan Poe. The Blackest Bird is a gripping and atmospheric historical thriller of murder and deceit in nineteenth-century New York.

In the sweltering New York City summer of 1841, the beautiful 'Segar Girl' Mary Rogers is brutally murdered. Popular amongst the fledgling city's journalistic and publishing elite, the task of finding her killer falls to High Constable Jacob Hays, already embroiled in establishing law and order over the ferocious gangs who run rampant through the Five Points. In this climate of suspicion, John Colt, scion of the fireman fortune, beats his publisher to death with a hatchet. Young Irish gang leader Tommy Coleman is accused of killing his daughter, his wife, and his wife's former lover. At the end of a long and distinguished career, and fortified by the support and affection of his daughter Olga, 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 Allen Poe. 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.