Johnny-Boy (A Delia Mariola Novel)

In this newest entry in the Edgar-nominated Delia Mariola series, a serial killer stalks the streets of a depressed Rust Belt town on the cusp of revitalization. Johnny-Boy is a killer. He lives for the thrill of the hunt, the stalking of human prey. Fittingly, he works as a hitman but always finds time for extracurricular activity on the side. When a new assignment sends him to Baxter, a depressed Rust Belt town experiencing a chaotic upheaval at the dawn of a new economic beginning, Johnny-Boy plans to keep things professional. But when he realizes that the streets are awash with drug activity, small-time mobsters, and loads of transitory laborers in town to construct a new car plant, Johnny-Boy sees an opportunity to have a little fun while he’s there. . . . The work of cleaning up a town of lowlifes and criminals is a never-ending slog for Delia Mariola, Chief of Detectives. But when a young teenager—nearly the same age as her own son—is found tortured to death, the stakes suddenly feel higher than ever. Delia brings her best detective, Blanche Weber, onto the case and together they set out to discover who the killer is and what he’s doing in this town. But having two female detectives lead the case seems to rub a certain segment of the locals the wrong way, especially when one of the women is a hothead, the other is a lesbian, and both have risen to the top due to their excellent and uncompromising work as detectives. As they watch the streets in an effort to catch a killer, Delia and Blanche must also watch their own backs for attacks from within. The fourth installment in the saga of Delia Mariola and her hard-bitten town of Baxter, Johnny-Boy is a tough, gritty crime novel with an unforgettable queer heroine at its center.