A Winsome Murder [Hardcover]

A grisly murder in a pastoral Wisconsin town, Winsome Bay, proves to be only the opening act in a twisting, darkening series of gruesome deaths. Acclaimed already for his young adult fiction, actor/director/playwright James DeVita now debuts an addictive, adult thriller that takes us from Chicago’s underbelly to the Wisconsin woods.
            In this fast-paced novel we meet a gorgeous waitress with a haunted past, an author juggling a failing career and motherhood, and a hard-bitten detective with unexpected inspiration from William Shakespeare’s bloodiest plays—and nobody escapes the nightmare created by a psychotic killer of women.

Best books for public & secondary school libraries from university presses, American Library Association

Outstanding Achievement Award, Wisconsin Library Association (one of ten 2015 books chosen)

“A page-turner from beginning to end. . . . Certain to be an enduringly popular addition to community library Mystery/Suspense collections.”—Midwest Book Review

“In addition to a unique detective, a wholly original story, and some literary flair, DeVita has filled these pages with timely and biting social commentary, which does much to add to the real feel of this creative whodunit.”—Chicago Book Review

A serial killer brings bloody murder to the pastoral Wisconsin town of Winsome Bay, requiring the expertise of detective James Mangan, a hard-bitten Chicago cop with an unexpected knowledge of Shakespeare.

A story of superior literary merit with a very hard edge and some biting social commentary. Detective James Mangan is complex and interesting, a tough, gritty Chicago cop whose vast reservoir of wonderfully spooky Shakespeare quotations informs his crime-solving skills. Its a fine study of contrasts that folds into a taut, multilayered, highly enjoyable whlÓ5