Westside Lights A Novel
Westside Lights A Novel by W. M. Akers is a 288-page work published by HarperCollins Publishers in 2022. This installment in Akers’ Jazz Age fantasy series is set in the perilous Westside of New York City, where private detective Gilda Carr navigates a world filled with danger and intrigue. As she seeks peace amidst her chaotic life, Gilda’s journey takes a dark turn when she becomes embroiled in a murder investigation following a tragic event on her yacht.
In this narrative, Gilda’s search for her missing pet seagull leads her into the heart of the White Lights District, a place rife with vice and violence. After a night of revelry ends in a shocking massacre, Gilda finds herself the prime suspect, pursued by both law enforcement and criminal elements. The story intertwines elements of mystery, the occult, and urban fantasy, as Gilda races against time to uncover the truth and clear her name. Readers can expect a blend of historical and supernatural themes as they follow Gilda’s quest for justice in a world where shadows loom large.
Official synopsis Publisher
The Alienist meets the magical mystery of The Ninth House as W. M. Akers returns with the third book in his critically acclaimed Jazz Age fantasy series set in the dangerous Westside of New York City, following private detective Gilda Carr’s hunt for the truth–one tiny mystery at a time.
“Like a literary shot of Prohibition-era rotgut moonshine–bracing, quite possibly hallucination-inducing, and unlike anything you’ve ever experienced before.” — Kirkus Reviews (starred review) on Westside
The Westside of Manhattan is desolate, overgrown, and dangerous–and Gilda Carr wouldn’t have it any other way. An eccentric detective whose pursuit of tiny mysteries has dragged her to the brink of madness, Gilda spends 1923 searching for something that’s eluded her for years: peace. On the revitalized waterfront of the Lower West, Gilda and the gregarious ex-gangster Cherub Stevens start a new life on a stolen yacht. But their old life isn’t done with them yet.
They dock their boat on the edge of the White Lights District, a new tenderloin where liquor, drugs, sex, and violence are shaken into a deadly cocktail. When her pet seagull vanishes into the District, Gilda throws herself into the search for the missing bird. Up late watching the river for her pet, Gilda has one drink too many and passes out in the cabin of her waterfront home.
She wakes to a massacre.
Eight people have been slaughtered on the deck of the Misery Queen, and Cherub is among the dead. Gilda, naturally, is the prime suspect. Hunted by the police, the mob, and everyone in between, she must stay free long enough to find the person who stained the Hudson with her beloved’s blood. She will discover that on her Westside, no lights are bright enough to drive away the darkness.
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