The Devil’s Daughter
“A first-rate late ’50s NYC noir that hits all the right notes, weaving fiction, familiar real-life figures, and an affecting love story into a gripping tale of moral corruption that packs a physical and emotional punch.”
Mark Frost, cocreator of Twin Peaks
A Cullman Times Pick of the Month
A Historical Novel Society Pick of Upcoming Historical Novels
A Wall Street Journal Pick of the Week's Top Mysteries
A Shelf Awareness Pick of Best Books of the Week
From Emmy-nominated screenwriter Gordon Greisman, The Devil’s Daughter is a noir thriller full of the best—and worst—of New York City in the 1950s.
Most nights PI Jack Coffey can be found hanging out in smoky Greenwich Village jazz clubs with well-known mobsters, jazzmen, and hoods. So, when an uptown financier calls him in for a job, it seems like he’s headed for tonier climes. But it turns out the view from Louis Garrett’s lavish penthouse overlooks the same vice-ridden Manhattan streets, which explains why he’s so desperate to find his missing teenage daughter, Lucy.
When Jack’s search for Lucy leads him to swanky nightclubs packed with well-dressed pimps and wealthy drug dealers, he begins to wonder if Garrett is really concerned about his daughter’s welfare or if he simply fears she may reveal his own shocking secrets. After an attack outside Jack’s own apartment and Lucy’s boyfriend is found floating face down in the East River, the story kicks into high gear.
But death threats, crooked cops, lies, or ugly truths can’t stop Jack from finishing the job—whether an angel or a devil, Lucy is still a kid in danger, and Jack will do whatever it takes to find her.
“A first-rate late ’50s NYC noir that hits all the right notes, weaving fiction, familiar real-life figures, and an affecting love story into a gripping tale of moral corruption that packs a physical and emotional punch.”
Mark Frost, cocreator of Twin Peaks
“A gritty noir thriller reminiscent of the best of Ross Macdonald. The Devil’s Daughter spins a compelling tale of lust and greed in late 1950s New York. Combining singular fictional characters with some of the most famous real people of that era, it takes us on an unforgettable journey.”
David Milch, creator of Deadwood and cocreator of NYPD Blue
“Slick pacing and well-drawn details…[Coffey] is a hugely winning protagonist, and Greisman keeps his foot on the gas throughout.”
Publishers Weekly
“A well-crafted throwback thriller.”
Kirkus Reviews
“The Devil’s Daughter has some of the bubbly exuberance of The Thin Man, yet its seamy subject matter is more reminiscent of Chinatown…Readers [will keep] turning pages to the bittersweet end.”
Wall Street Journal
“Highly entertaining…Greisman skillfully emulates vintage private-eye novels, delving into noir territory while also offering a hopeful future for Jack.”
Shelf Awareness
“Gordon Greisman’s The Devil’s Daughter is not only taut and fine noir, it’s a story that showcases something you don’t witness much—a novelist having pure fun with the craft.”
Cullman Times
Bronson Pinchot, Audible’s Narrator of the Year for 2010, has won Publishers Weekly Listen-Up Awards, AudioFile Earphones Awards, Audible’s Book of the Year Award, and Audie Awards for several audiobooks, including Matterhorn, Wise Blood, Occupied City, and The Learners. A magna cum laude graduate of Yale, he is an Emmy- and People’s Choice-nominated veteran of movies, television, and Broadway and West End shows. His performance of Malvolio in Twelfth Night was named the highlight of the entire two-year Kennedy Center Shakespeare Festival by the Washington Post. He attended the acting programs at Shakespeare & Company and Circle-in-the-Square, logged in well over 200 episodes of television, starred or costarred in a bouquet of films, plays, musicals, and Shakespeare on Broadway and in London, and developed a passion for Greek revival architecture.