The Ways of the Dead

TRUE DETECTIVE meets HOUSE OF CARDS in the electrifying first novel of a new crime series from a veteran Washington, D.C., reporter

The Ways of the Dead is a great read. Deep characters, pitch perfect dialogue and a plot with as many curves as the Rock Creek Parkway as it moves through the side of Washington DC far away from the Smithsonian. Neely Tucker takes this novel up an even further notch with a story framed around the hot button issues of our time, including race, justice and the media. If this is Tucker's first novel, I can't wait for what's coming next.

A whiplash smart debut…a truly promising crime novel that leaves you aching for more…edgy, fierce and gripping, with a fast line in neat dialogue and a suitably bleak, nuanced conclusion. A sequel is on the way which should underline that Tucker is a fine new talent.

From the powerful opening to the shocking finale, The Ways of the Dead delivers the very best in gritty, hard-edged suspense. Complex characters, taut dialogue, and a riveting plot all add up to one extremely excellent novel.

The Ways of the Dead has got the plot, a brilliant lead character and a bucket-load of suspense.

A page-turning, gripping debut novel…sharply observed story, well-drawn characters and pitch perfect writing. The Ways Of The Dead is an intricate, absorbing and a thoroughly enjoyable read - fans of the crime and whodunit genre won't regret picking up a copy.

Stronger, though, is the character of Sully Carter, whose vinegary world-weariness makes him an unappealing man but a most appealing character ... Carter may not be likable, but there’s a lot to like in Tucker’s storytelling.

Tough, exciting, always intelligent, Neely Tucker’s The Ways of the Dead captures the multi-layered corruption and cynicism – and the edge-of-the-ledge danger – of a hard-nosed former war reporter digging out a serial killer in the backstreets of Washington, D.C.

Every character is fully fleshed out and the dialogue is pitch perfect...For mystery and crime fiction lovers, particularly fans of Elmore Leonard, to whom Tucker dedicates his book, this is a must-read.

The Way Of The Dead has everything you'd want from a book noir – enveloping atmosphere, flavorful characters, evocative writing, and a serpentine plot which seems to make the pages turn themselves. Neely Tucker is an impressive new talent.

Along with an ear for inner-city argot almost as finely tuned as those of Elmore Leonard and fellow D.C. crime writer George Pelacanos, Tucker has a knack for ingenious plotting that jolts his narrative into unexpected directions ... rich yet taut description, edgy storytelling, rock-and-rolling dialogue, and a deeply flawed but compelling hero add up to a luminous first novel.

The brisk plot is punctuated by an insightful view of journalism and manipulative editors, shady politicians, and apathetic cops, while also showing residents working to create a better neighborhood. Readers will be pleased that Tucker leaves room for a sequel.

Based on a true story, this gritty, exciting book is Tucker's impressive debut novel.

Stunningly written with such brilliant and believable characters alongside such an intricately woven and gripping storyline, this is one of the most enjoyable crime fiction novels I've read in a long time.

Right from the start I loved this book – descriptions of the main characters were believable and got me hooked.  A real page turner and I read it really quickly…A great first novel by Neely Tucker, and I will certainly be looking for the next one.

Intricate, absorbing and a thoroughly enjoyable read.

A page-turning, gripping debut novel ... sharply observed, well-drawn characters and pitch perfect writing.

Not only an enthralling murder investigation... but a plot that is strengthened and illuminated by two of the best characters I have read for some time- reporter Sully Carter and his cohort, the streetwise gangster Sly Hastings... their exchanges are pure gold.

This is a terrific first novel by a man with a long career in journalism. The tale builds to a dramatic conclusion, with a final unexpected and terrible twist in the tail.

Neely Tucker's journalism career spans more than 25 years, including 14 at the Washington Post (where he still works) and eight as a foreign correspondent. His memoir, Love in the Driest Season, was one of Publishers Weekly's Best Books of 2004.

‘The Ways of the Dead is a great read. If this is Tucker’s first novel, I can't wait for what's coming next.’ Michael Connelly 
 
TRUE DETECTIVE meets HOUSE OF CARDS in the electrifying first novel of a new crime series from a veteran Washington, D.C., reporter 
 
The body of the teenage daughter of a powerful Federal judge is discovered in a dumpster in a bad neighbourhood of Washington, DC. It is murder, and the local police immediately arrest the three nearest black kids, bad boys from a notorious gang. 
 
Sully Carter, a veteran war correspondent with emotional scars far worse than the ones on his body, suspects that there's more to the case than the police would have the public know. 
 
With the nation clamouring for a conviction, and the bereaved judge due for a court nomination, Sully pursues his own line of enquiry, in spite of some very dangerous people telling him to shut it down.

Neely Tucker

When I reviewed this veteran Washington Post reporter's debut a year or so ago, I called him 'a fine new talent'. This, his second, utterly confirms that promise… Gripping from start to finish, it has a great line in snappy dialogue and a twist that puts Tucker in the finest Elmore Leonard tradition.

Explosive ... Murder, D.C. is another excellent offering from Neely Tucker; his style and characters are simply engrossing. Here there are even more liars to expose, more puzzles to solve and more interesting characters to enjoy.

Neely Tucker is that rare and wonderful being, an author who seems almost to be writing his own life story, such is his empathy with his main character. Sully lives and breathes. The style is as fractured as he is, the plot as edgy.  This is a gritty novel, full of suspense and depth… Ladies and Gentlemen, this novel lives. Go along for the ride. It will be worth it.

His debut Ways of the Dead was a cracker, now the follow up fizzes with danger.

This second novel from a veteran newspaper reporter has remained lodged in my mind all year…Razor-sharp dialogue and a taste for delicate irony that would make Elmore Leonard envious.

'Gripping from start to finish, it has a great line in snappy dialogue and a twist that puts Tucker in the finest Elmore Leonard tradition.' Daily Mail 
 
When Billy Ellison, the son of Washington, D.C.’s most influential African-American family, is found dead in the Potomac near a violent drug haven, veteran metro reporter Sully Carter knows it’s time to start asking some serious questions—no matter what the consequences. 
 
With the police unable to find a lead and pressure mounting for Sully to abandon the investigation, he has a hunch that there is more to the case than a drug deal gone bad or a tale of family misfortune. Digging deeper, Sully finds that the real story stretches far beyond Billy and into D.C.’s most prominent social circles. 
 
An alcoholic still haunted from his years as a war correspondent in Bosnia, Sully now must strike a dangerous balance between D.C.’s two extremes—the city’s violent, desperate back streets and its highest corridors of power—while threatened by those who will stop at nothing to keep him from discovering the shocking truth.

Neely Tucker

Praise for Murder, D.C.

When I reviewed this veteran Washington Post reporter's debut a year or so ago, I called him 'a fine new talent'. This, his second, utterly confirms that promise… Gripping from start to finish, it has a great line i ...

Explosive ... Murder, D.C. is another excellent offering from Neely Tucker; his style and characters are simply engrossing. Here there are even more liars to expose, more puzzles to solve and more interesting ...

Neely Tucker is that rare and wonderful being, an author who seems almost to be writing his own life story, such is his empathy with his main character. Sully lives and breathes. The style is as fractured as he is, ...

When I reviewed this veteran Washington Post reporter's debut a year or so ago, I called him 'a fine new talent'. This, his second, utterly confirms that promise… Gripping from start to finish, it has a great line i ...

Explosive ... Murder, D.C. is another excellent offering from Neely Tucker; his style and characters are simply engrossing. Here there are even more liars to expose, more puzzles to solve and more interesting ...

Neely Tucker is that rare and wonderful being, an author who seems almost to be writing his own life story, such is his empathy with his main character. Sully lives and breathes. The style is as fractured as he is, ...

When I reviewed this veteran Washington Post reporter's debut a year or so ago, I called him 'a fine new talent'. This, his second, utterly confirms that promise… Gripping from start to finish, it has a great line i ...

Explosive ... Murder, D.C. is another excellent offering from Neely Tucker; his style and characters are simply engrossing. Here there are even more liars to expose, more puzzles to solve and more interesting ...

Neely Tucker is that rare and wonderful being, an author who seems almost to be writing his own life story, such is his empathy with his main character. Sully lives and breathes. The style is as fractured as he is, ...

Books by Neely Tucker

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