Blackest Bird

In the sweltering New York City, summer of 1841, the beautiful ‘Segar Girl’ Mary Rogers is brutally murdered. Popular amongst the journalistic and publishing elite, the task of finding her killer falls to High Constable Jacob Hays. At the end of a long and distinguished career Old Hays’ investigation will ultimately span a decade, involving gang wars.

Reviews of Blackest Bird

"An irresistibly seductive behemoth of a book. You'll lose yourself for days at a time in the perfectly depicted characters, atmosphere and low life of nineteenth-century New York. Murder mystery, historical novel, portal to another time; The Blackest Bird is a masterpiece." Anthony Bourdain "In The Blackest Bird Joel Rose has caught the wild spirit of Edgar Allan Poe's New York with terrific panache. It is a vivid picture of the city in the full flush of its rambunctious youth, teeming with big, brash characters and driven by a relentlessly entertaining narrative. A marvellous novel." Patrick Mcgrath, Author of Asylum and Port Mungo