Murder, D.C.

Sully Carter #2

by Neely Tucker

“The test of a crime series is its main character, and Sully is someone we’ll want to read about again and again. . . . When the murder victim in the novel is identified as the young scion of one of the city’s most wealthy and influential African American families, the story expands its themes of race and class, which lend it dimension.”  — Lisa Scottoline,  The Washington Post

Reporter Sully Carter returns in a thrilling murder mystery of race, wealth, and family secrets
 
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, 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. Riding the city's backstreets on his Ducati 916, Sully finds that the real story stretches far beyond Billy and into D.C.’s most prominent social circles.

A hard drinker still haunted by 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, depraved projects and its highest corridors of power—while threatened by those who will stop at nothing to keep him from discovering the shocking truth. The only person he can trust is his old friend Alexis, a talented photographer and fellow war zone junkie, who is as sexy as she is fearless, but even Alexis can't protect Sully from everyone who would rather he give up the story.
 
Following the acclaimed first Sully Carter novel,  The Ways of the Dead, this gritty mystery digs deeper into Sully's past while revealing how long-held secrets can destroy even the most powerful families.

Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Thriller, Crime, Murder Mystery, Suspense, Contemporary

304 pages, Hardcover

First published June 30, 2015

About the author

The third novel in the Sully Carter series, "Only the Hunted Run," publishes on Aug. 30, from Viking. Publishers Weekly, the first to file a review, dubs it "provocative...a terrifying thriller."

Sully, one of the few reporters stuck in Washington in the August doldrums in the summer of 2000, is filling in for a colleague when shooting breaks out in the Capitol building. The killer, Terry Waters, kills a congressman from Oklahoma by stabbing him through the eyes with a pair of ice picks. He also manages to escape.

Sully, the only surviving witness, soon finds himself being tracked down by Waters. This pursuit eventually leads both men to St. Elizabeths, the gothic mental hospital in Southeast D.C, which scars everyone it touches -- if it doesn't bury them.

Based on a real-life shooting at the Capitol in 1997, "Hunted" follows "The Ways of the Dead" and "Murder, D.C." As always, the streets of the city, from the power of K Street to the deadly avenues just a few blocks away, are as central to the story as the characters.

The previous Sully novels have drawn extensive praise. The Daily Mail (U.K.) dubbed "Murder" one of 2015's Best Three Crime Novels. Kirkus: "There’s no more satisfying sight than a writer who knows exactly what he’s doing—and only gets better at what he does.” The Miami Herald, said of "Ways, "This book is worthy of Elmore Leonard’s legacy…an exciting first novel that echoes the best writing of Pete Hamill and George Pelecanos, mixed with a bit of The Wire and True Detective.”

Tucker was born in Lexington, Miss., one of the poorest places in America, in 1963. He has filed stories from more than 60 countries or territories and is currently assigned to the 2016 Presidential campaign.

His memoir, "Love in the Driest Season," was named one of the Top 25 Books of 2004 by Publishers Weekly. It has been published in the U.K., Germany, Australia and Brazil. It has twice been optioned for film development in Los Angeles.

Reviews

[Tim · Rating 3 out of 5]

A tough and grueling novel of the hard streets.

[Lorrea - WhatChaReadin'? · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sully Carter is a journalist in Washington, D.C. When he starts to investigate the murder of Billy Ellison, the son of a prominent African American family in the area, he finds out a lot more information then he had planned to. With so many questions about this death and curious circumstances about talking to the family about it, Sully is determined to get to the truth, even if his own life may hang in the balance because of it.

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Viking for the opportunity to read and review this book. This is the first book I have read by Neely Tucker and I look forward to more that he has. I enjoy reading books in and around Washington DC as I have lived in this area most of my life.

This book had a very interesting story line and a few twists and turns along the way. Billy Ellison is gay and his family is very well known throughout the DC area. His family wants him to follow in his father's footsteps and become a lawyer, but this isn't something he is interested in. He enjoys exploring his family's rich and illustrious past in Washington, but then he discovers something very disturbing. After his death, Sully Carter, picks up where Billy left off and tries to find out what in the research could have gotten him killed. As Sully gets closer to the truth, his life is on the brink of ending as well.

In the book, Sully works for "The Paper" not sure which that would be, but I'm assuming its the Washington Post, the largest in the area. Sully is a character who you can love or hate, really. He didn't grow on me too much. The story overall had a good plot, but there were parts of it that my eyes read but my brain did not digest.

Overall the book is good and if given the opportunity, I will read more books by Neely Tucker.

[Richard · Rating 2 out of 5]

The big, life-changing discovery for me this year is that I'm not that big a fan of standard investigative books. For me to truly enjoy a mystery novel, there needs to be something more than just a detective (or in this case, a journalist), walking around questioning people for 250 pages and then solving a mystery at the end. There needs to be something else to keep my interest. It seems like the only thing close to standard detective stories that I'm enjoying presently are Lawrence Block's Matt Scudder series. Books by him, as well as Lehane or Pelecanos or James Sallis, are about so much more.

Last year, I stumbled upon Neely Tucker's The Ways of the Dead: A Novel and thought it was alright, so I requested this one as an Advanced Copy from NetGalley and thought I'd continue. It''s a follow-up novel about Tucker's character Sully Carter, an alcoholic D.C. Metro reporter who limps around the city for the whole book asking a bunch of questions to uninteresting people and eventually solves the complex mystery of: "Who Killed the Black Dude in the Sketchy Park?" The book does have an interesting conclusion though, I'll give it that. But there were many times while reading that I thought I wasn't going to make it there, and that's where the problems lie.

The sad thing is that I actually think that Tucker is a really good writer. I just think he needs better material. It's definitely a case of it's not the book, it's probably me. There are many people that will love this one if they like their mysteries relatively neat and familiar. This book is everything you expect and hope for and not much more. I fell asleep constantly while reading because the "not much more" is what I was missing. I need to be shaken up.

[Debbie · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a great series and what a great book. I think the second one is better than the first which to me means, we got us a real author here. And I'm pretty sure he's only going to get better. I love the main character, of course he's a boozer, but he has been reporting on the war for years. I love his little smart ass comments which made me laugh out loud several times. Poor guy does seem to get beat up a lot, but when your dealing with the lowest forms of humans on earth you have to expect that.

This book started at the green starting line, full of suspense, danger, shady characters, and intrigue and did not stop until the checkered flag waved and said "winner" at the ending. And I loved the ending! Now unfortunately I'm going to have to wait another year for the next one. Ugh!

Thanks Penguin Group/Viking and Net Galley for providing me with this enjoyable e-galley in exchange for an honest review. I will definitely be recommending this one!!

[Veronica · Rating 4 out of 5]

"This was how your day went south without even trying."

When a relaxing lunch with some fellow news folks results in a high profile death landing in the lap of one Sullivan "Sully" Carter, the result is a story that is a worthy follow-up to the first book in the series. I like Sully and his brand of tenacious, investigative journalism. Though he has some serious baggage that manifests itself in some pretty major flaws, there is a glimmer of hope that Sully may finally be ready to address some of his demons head on. We see the return of some of the characters we met in the first book - one in particular I wish Sully would sever all association with - but we also get to meet Alexis, an old friend and a badass photojounalist who works for the same paper as Sully and who has covered some of the nastiest war zones abroad. I liked her immediately and hope we get to see her again. The investigation itself was pretty interesting but though I figured out one reveal fairly early on, another one took me by surprise. While this book can be read independently of the first, there are elements of Sully's past as well as his current personal life that form the backdrop of everything he does and to best understand him it's best to read the books in order. I'm looking forward to reading Sully's third, and hopefully not last, book.

"These many years later, half the world's war zones in his rearview mirror, he sat at his desk in an office in a violent city, his back purple, his leg aching, and a narrow dab of dried blood on his chin, writing from the same pit of emotion."

[Michael · Rating 5 out of 5]

So, in the interest of full disclosure, Neely Tucker is a friend of mine of longstanding. And not just a casual acquaintance. I was there when the police came and shut down his wedding reception. I've fallen asleep on his sofa while watching college football. And we have traded good-natured insults while enjoying a bourbon or few in the gloaming of the evening. That said, he surprised me with this book. I actually found his first novel, The Ways of the Dead, a bit slow at first and had to put it down and go back to it (And I ended up enjoying it). Murder D.C. hooked me. It's well plotted and the story line zips along. There is a certain point in the book where the passages start singing and you find yourself rushing headlong to finish it. It isn't perfect; I would have loved to tweak some language here and there (but I'm an editor and persnickety by nature). But well done, Bubba. I heartily recommend it.

[Bonnie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Exceptional book, kept me glued to the pages! Author, Neely Tucker, is a staff reporter at The Washington Post. This story features Sully Carter, also a reporter, still haunted by his years as a war correspondent in Bosnia. He had been having lunch with Dave Roberts from WCJT when Dave got a call that tourists sightseeing from a boat, had reported seeing a body floating in the river. The floater was Billy Ellison, son of D.C.’s most influential socialite, Delores Ellison, whose family was the most influential African-American family! Sully had been doing research on the number of murders in the vicinity of Frenchman’s Bend. It had been the District’s most notorious antebellum slave market, with stigma so great nothing had ever been built there! Sully started doing research & kept finding layers of hidden secrets! Read & Enjoy!

[nomadreader (Carrie D-L) · Rating 5 out of 5]

The basics: Murder, D.C. picks up shortly after the events of The Ways of the Dead (one of my favorite reads of 2014), and it contains some spoilers from that novel. Here, Billy Ellison, the only son of DC's most influential black family is found dead in Frenchman's Bend, an unsavory part of town with deep historical roots. Veteran journalist and former war correspondent Sully Carter uses his connections to solve the crime and write the story.

The verdict: Murder, D.C. cements Neely Tucker as a not only a damn good mystery writer but also one concerned with social justice and history. Like The Ways of the Dead, Murder, D.C. is a compelling mystery with complicated themes. Thankfully, it works on both levels. It's riveting, informative, and it will leave you thinking.

Read the rest at http://nomadreader.blogspot.com/2015/....

[Suzanne · Rating 5 out of 5]

I confess: I find these Sully Carter investigative-murder, DC 1999-2000 books completely addictive. The kind of books you start reading the minute you get your hands on them all the while knowing that you won't want to finish them because then you'll be waiting, craving another. So, if that doesn't describe addiction, what does? Neely Tucker uses the setting as another character in the book, and the Washington DC he describes is overly ripe. Politics, graft, murder, guns, drugs, and poverty are all too present in the Clinton Administration's DC. And the protagonist is the best part: weary, damaged and frequently drunk, he nonetheless finds answers amongst all this mess. If you like your stories juicy with a lot of depth, this one satisfies on all levels. I just wish there was another book available right now.

[Carol · Rating 5 out of 5]

Totally amazing climax!! The book is intriguing with a variety
of characters. They are believable, very well defined, engaging
and quirky. Each one is colorful in their own way.
This is a riveting, historical fiction read. It blends the smuggling
and selling of early slavery from the South to the Washington,
DC area with the harsh reality of current day issues involving
murder, guns, drugs, poverty, alcoholism, greed, deceit,
betrayals, viciousness, improper use of power plus a touch of
trust and romance.
The author was able to mix the past and present together
effortlessly. The author weaves a story of deception, intrigue,
a tangled web of clues and lies uncovered.
Thank you to First To Read for the eBook. My opninion is my own.

[Melody Schreiber · Rating 5 out of 5]

!!!!!!!

Tucker is one of the best writers in DC. This series is like The Wire, but set in DC; like Pelecanos, but better writing and more complex characters.

[Judy Collins · Rating 5 out of 5]

A special thank you to PENGUIN GROUP Viking and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Neely Tucker returns with vigor, with his latest, MURDER, D.C. (Sully Carter #2), following the intense The Ways of the Dead (Sully Carter #1), a street-smart, fearless crime investigative reporter, who has been in war zones, now finds himself digging up connections in the underbellies of the drug world to solve a case.

Sully unravels deep dark secrets, racial injustice, slavery, and corruption -all the while, fighting against some high stakes-- from the politically connected, wealthy and powerful social circles; for a riveting razor-edge suspense mystery crime thriller of corruption, going back generations, from the southern states to urban streets of Washington, DC.

Having read The Ways of the Dead, was anxious to catch up with Sully, (love him), a journalist brought home from war in Bosnia and worn by loss, rage, and alcohol and his famous motorcycle. With his flaws and all, where he was involved in a deeply layered mystery, from the nation’s capital from the highest corridors of power to D.C.’s seedy underbelly, in the middle of violence and corruption. The saga continues . . .

As the novel opens, a few years later, Sully is living in a row house on Capitol Hill. It is spring of twenty-first century, and he finds himself on a fast boat pulling up to the waterfront channel, Frenchman’s Bend, when he sees a dead body pulled from the water. A few hours before deadline, his radar is up when he begins questioning the homicide cop.

For the last thirty years, the Bend, a park, scarcely acknowledged by the city--considered a drug park run. If Sully had not been raised in Louisiana, a state still haunted by slavery, he might have thought the Bend was poisoned or cursed. A city block of malignant soil so infected that it seeped into the souls of the living. The end had been claiming bodies for more than a century and a half. Sully has to think about where the slaves stood as they were pushed onto boats headed down to the Carolinas, Georgia, or Florida; Key West and back up to Mobile, Gulfport, or New Orleans.

The Bend, had been the District’s most notorious antebellum slave market, with long gone wooden pens, slaves brought from the farms lining the Potomac or Anacostia put on a platform and sold off onto ships bound for cotton plantations down south. It had opened long before Washington was the capital but stayed in business for decades, the shame of the city, slaves force-marched through the streets in neck shackles. Its stigma was so great that the land had never been built upon from Irish, Germans, and even blacks, Jews, not even in post WWII and the building boom.

Of course, just one more dead body in the middle of a drug haven, would most likely turn out to be another drug shooting in the middle of a city of drug wars; averaging almost a homicide every day, year round. An unsolved killing for John Parker, head of DC Homicide, and for Sully, a dead-end story which would take too long, coming up with nothing substantial. (Or, so he thinks at the time).

The murder victim turns out to be a young twenty-one year old African-American gay man, Billy Ellison with a bullet in his head. However, Ellison is the son of Washington, D.C's most influential African-American family. So he is gaining more media attention, than the norm. The family is wealthy and very politically connected. Billy was finishing his junior year at Georgetown and going into law like his old man. So unless he was caught up in drugs, why the murder, and is it connected to the Bend?

Turns out, Billy is the last heir of a prominent family in the nation’s capital. Gay and shot in the head at close range, indicating a drug deal, being what constituted most killings in the Bend and a strip of gay clubs nearby down on the O Street. Is there a connection between the place, and this high powered family? Sully is determined to find answers.

The cops are unable to uncover any leads; however, relentless Sully smells something dirty and feels the family’s law firm spokesman has something to hide. Why is he answering for the mother? Sully is obsessed with digging deeper, with his drug dealing connections, he attempts to uncover a string of deceit from the most prominent social circles to the back streets --and powerful giants who want their business to stay buried.

The Bend, located in the Southwest DC area near the brick walls of Fort McNair, small US army base running to the end of the peninsula—a place of prostitutes, drug dealers, and murders. Sully begins digging into other killings in previous years. Over the past year forty-four people had been killed in the Bend, a knoblike park of little more than an acre, and not one had been solved! It was where DC went to kill and be killed. Frenchman’s Bend was the murder capital of the murder capital. Three this year, and all three dumped in the channel.

The family background: 19th century family patriarch, Nathaniel Ellison made his fortune in banking, and extended down the generations. His son, Lambert, followed his father into the bank as manager, as did his son, Lambert II, until it was consumed in a merger with a larger bank in 1965, under the management of Lambert III. Delores Ellison (mother of Billy), his only child, now works as a strategist at the law firm of Sheldon Stevens, one of the most influential and power brokers in Washington. Of course, Stevens acts as a family spokesman, warning off Sully, with a restraining order, and had him escorted from the funeral by his PIs. Now Delores Ellison had a dead husband, a dead son and a lawyer, Shellie who wants Sully out of the way.

Sully is working with Sly for the key to finding out what is happening in the Bend. Whoever killed Sly’s mole, (Dee), may lead them to finding the killer of Billy. So Sully is about working what angles he has. Billy and Dee both died and now he may be the next victim.

Sully is threatened and warned to stay away from the story, not only from the higher ups, his boss, and the paper’s entire legal department, before this story breaks. After all, the paper paid him to deal with warlords and psychopaths and South African thugs abroad, so why not a few warlords here in the states? Now, three bodies in three week, this is no accident. Suspended so many time he cannot count. You have got to love Sully—you tell him he cannot do something, he will be even more determined to prove you wrong.

Wow, a complex, perfectly-paced, page-turner, crossing several genres, from crime, mystery, thriller, to historical fiction with investigative journalism at its grittiest! Tucker delivers witty, edgy, and razor-sharp dialogue, for a taunt, top-notch engrossing read, you cannot put down.

Fans of Michael Connelly, Greg Iles, Karin Slaughter, and fast-action crime thrillers will devour, and who better to deliver it than the author himself, with his extensive background! (have you read his bio?) Hello, take a look.

Neely Tucker draws heavily on his two decades reporting on crime and armed conflict from around the globe to create Sully Carter and his complicated moral realm in The Ways of the Dead and Murder, D.C.; Highly recommend both. You do not want to miss this series! Looking forward to the next.

JDCMustReadBooks

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

It would be hard to match the level of the first book in this series, but the second entry takes a good run at doing so. This is a solid hard-boiled crime story featuring both the real and fictional mean streets of Washington, D.C., a few history lessons and the return of the fearless, complex and all-too-human protagonist featured the last time around. I will look forward to reading more from this author.

[Mark · Rating 4 out of 5]

My first Neely Tucker, Sully Carter mystery thriller...Detective "noir" genre, but featuring a WAPO reporter/correspondent, as the hardboiled investigator...Carter is drawn into the investigation of the apparent murder of the son of a prominent African American family in DC...He finds out a lot more into a web of lies surrounding this death...I will read another in this series...Good stuff with an interesting character!!!

[Cherise Wolas · Rating 3 out of 5]

The second in a series starring Sully, the war-ravaged and damaged reporter reporting on crime for a main DC paper. As with the first, DC does come alive, but Sully here is less than inspired. The death of a young black man in Frenchman's Bend, a desolate place on the river in the hands of a drug gang, a place with its own true history, where pens of slaves were kept. Researching and reporting on Billie Ellison's death, the only child of an illustrious, wealthy, and socially and politically connected Black family, Sully stumbles on a dark secret that reaches back through the Ellison family.

[Jill · Rating 4 out of 5]

This story, set in 2000, takes place in fictional “Frenchman’s Bend” in Southwest D.C. (At the point where the Potomac and Anacostia Rivers intersect, there is indeed a “bend” if not one called as such in real life.)

Right at the geographical bend, the author situates a blighted drug park, full of “brown dirt and weeds too dumb to die and scraps of paper and brightly colored plastic bags, trash flitting across the scrub.” Thus we are introduced to a recurring theme of Tucker’s: the dichotomy between the rich, powerful, and wealthy sections of D.C., and the rest of the city. Most tourists, he opines, would be shocked by the contrast between the “emerald idyll” of East Potomac Park, and the “broken glass and the hard hustle” near “some of the most brutal projects in the city” where you can find “smack freaks, crack whores, smoke hounds, drunken assholes, the lowest forms of prostitution known to mankind.” (In the book, a reporter at "The Washington Post" makes fun of the naïve tourists: “yahoos from flyover, a-damn-mazed this happened in sight of the Capitol Building? . . .You’d think they’d read the papers before they got here….”)


No one lives in The Bend: “It was just open ground. It was where D.C. went to kill and be killed,” the “murder capital of the murder capital.” Moreover, most cases remained unsolved “because no one who knew enough cared to get involved.”

[The author posits that The Bend was the primary site of D.C.’s most notorious antebellum slave market. In actual fact, while The Bend itself is fictional, there were a number of white slave traders who operated in Washington as well as nearby Virginia, including the Alexandria slave-trading firm that became the largest in the country for an eight-year period, Franklin & Armfield. As the Pulitzer Prize winning historian David Levering Lewis wrote, “The auction block, the lash, and the manacled gangs on their way to the Deep South were as much a part of Washington as the steamy climate, the malaria, the marshes, and the dust.”

Spaces in taverns and in jails were rented out for placement of shackled slaves. There were also privately owned slave holding areas, called “Georgia Pens,” which were notoriously bad. One of the worst of those dungeons was known as Williams Private Jail or “The Yellow House” and was located just south of the current grounds of the Smithsonian Institution.]

The hero of Tucker’s series of stories about D.C. crime (this is the second) is Sullivan “Sully” Carter, a former foreign war correspondent for "The Washington Post" who now works on the metro beat. His traumatic wartime experiences left him with serious PTSD and a bad alcohol problem. Still, he manages to solve crimes that elude the police.

As the book begins, the press has just learned of the death of 21-year-old Billy Ellison, the scion of a black elite family with a long history in Washington. Billy’s father died years before, but his mother, Delores, was on the White House social list. She worked as a strategist for the powerful attorney, Shellie Stevens, who met with Sully only to warn him off the case. But that just amounted to a challenge for Sully. Furthermore, Sully wants to tie the death into the history of The Bend. He also wants to pull in the subject of other recent deaths in The Bend; it looked like a war was picking up between rival drug gangs, and interviews lead him to believe that Ellison was somehow involved. To get the inside info, he contacts Sly Hastings, “one of the deadliest men in the city, a killer and a sociopath, and perhaps his best source in town.”

Sly tries to educate Sully about what has been happening with the drug scene:

"‘That there is the problem with you reporters,’ he said. ‘Y’all always looking at the wrong thing, barking up the wrong goddamn tree. Woof woof over here, woof woof over there. Look here. Follow the money. Ain’t that what y’all like to say?”

Sully chases down the story, in many instances at his own mortal peril. But, as he muses:

"…stories were nothing but fever dreams that came ad passed through you and, later, left you looking back, wondering how the thing had possessed you so completely.”

And solving crimes? That was like “a crossword puzzle with gore.” He couldn’t resist even if he wanted to do so.

Evaluation: This gritty follow-up to the first book in the series, The Ways of the Dead, keeps you turning the pages. I especially liked the way in which the author integrates local history into the plot, adding a lot of interest to what otherwise might just be another well-written noir who-done-it.

[Margaret · Rating 4 out of 5]

I selected this book because I thoroughly enjoyed Nelly’s writing for the Library of Congress Magazine, LCM. A fascinating look into the many classes of society in DC.

[Raven · Rating 5 out of 5]

Do you miss The Wire? Does the wait for the next George Pelecanos novel seem endless? Neely Tucker is a welcome find that will comfortably fill the void. His first thriller The Ways of the Dead featured veteran, war-scarred Washington reporter Sully Carter and was well received. Now the author builds on his growing reputation with Murder DC, transporting us once again to the less than savoury side of America’s seat of political power.

The book opens with the discovery Billy Ellison’s body in the Potomac river. He’s the son of DC’s most influential African American family, but he’s been discovered in a section of the Washington riverside widely regarded as a violent drug haven. With the implication that Ellison could have been involved in all manner of illegal activity, metro reporter Sully Carter starts asking some serious – and dangerous – questions. The police are singularly unable to find a viable lead, but Carter has a hunch that there is more to the story than a drug deal gone bad. As he digs deeper, he finds the story stretches far beyond the unfortunate victim and into the city’s most prominent social circles.

No doubt thanks to his own journalistic background, Neely Tucker delivers a razor sharp, tightly plotted thriller with not a word wasted or misplaced. Similar to David Simon’s depictions of inner city life in Baltimore, and those who have the power to change it, Tucker brings into focus the political power and wrangling inherent in Washington. He also spotlights the undercurrents of racial tension, urban crime and poverty that aren’t normally associated with the nation’s capital. By choosing a central victim from a family largely protected by the power base in Washington, but found dead in a renegade drug-dealing outpost, Tucker lets us see through Carter’s eyes and provides wider comment on a city that’s usually much better thought of, and he does it beautifully. The extent to which those in power maliciously manipulate and influence the fates of Billy Ellison and those closest to him is skilfully and sympathetically handled, ratcheting up your resentment towards those responsible. An additional bonus of this largely flawless plotting and social comment, is that there are a couple of scenes that will make you outwardly gasp, but then quickly fill you with a real sense of sadness. Be strong gentle reader.

Sully Carter is a gem of a character. He’s cynical, world-weary, emotionally and physically damaged, and a terrier of a reporter. He studiously avoids counselling, and finds his therapy at the bottom of a glass. Because his character carries such an authentic voice having witnessed terrible events in his former career as a foreign correspondent, he is fearless and carries a strong moral centre. His moral position means he runs his mouth, acts intuitively, although sometimes impetuously, but more importantly makes him dogged in his pursuit of the truth about Billy Ellison. The equally mesmeric character of Sly Hastings, a gangster who helps Carter (but for his own benefit), creates a compelling partnership, which is the real linchpin of the series to date. Likewise, there is the added joy of a tenacious, ballsy and impressive female cohort to the men in the shape of Alexis, a war-zone photographer, who keeps Carter on his toes and adds a real liveliness to the central plot.

It’s always nice to reach the end of a review and feel a sense of satisfaction that a book has resonated so positively with you, and Murder DC is one of those books. Fellow fans of grittier American crime fiction will love this, and it would be foolish to not seek out the marvellous debut, Ways of the Dead too. Go on. Treat yourself.

[Luanne Ollivier · Rating 4 out of 5]

Neely Tucker's debut novel, Ways of the Dead, introduced us to reporter Sully Carter. I really enjoyed Tucker's first book and was looking forward to his just released second novel - Murder, D.C.

Sully knows there's more to the story when Billy Ellison, son of one of Washington's most wealthy, influential and revered black families, is found dead in a park known for gang and drug activity. Repeatedly warned off by his newspaper, Billy's family and the local gangs, Sully is like a dog with a bone - he won't back down and he won't let go.

Which makes for a helluva good read. The plot of Murder, D.C. was inventive, drawing on both fact and fiction. I enjoyed riding along with Sully as he slowly uncovers bits and pieces, ferreting out the truth amongst the lies to arrive at the final reveal. I had my suspicions along the way, but was surprised by many of the turns the book took. (And this is a good thing - I enjoy not being able to predict a plot)

The best protagonists for crime books are the walking wounded, the ones who buck authority, the ones who just can't let things be or let justice go unserved. Sully Carter fills the bill on every count. He's battling PTSD, alcohol and anger issues, his bosses and manages to step on toes everywhere he goes. (many times on purpose) He's also a confidant of the one of DC's most feared crimelords. In this latest book, Tucker continues to fleshy out Sully's character, exposing more of his personal life and the reasons behind his runaway train of a life. Alexis, a photographer, Sully's friend and sometimes lover was a great addition to the story. I loved her attitude and view on life. I hope we see more of her in the future.

Both characters have a history as war correspondents. Neely's own background is rich and wide reaching. His experience as a journalist is evident in his writing. (And I wonder how much of Sully is drawn from the author himself) Neely's descriptions of time and place are vivid and I had strong mental images of the streets, back alleys and underbelly of Washington. These books are set in the late 1990's - when Washington was known as the murder capital of the U.S. (Hence the title)

I look forward to Sully's next story.

[Nancy · Rating 4 out of 5]

For more nitty-gritty city crime, check out Neely Tucker's Murder D.C. (Viking, digital galley), set in the nation's capital. In Tucker's follow-up to The Ways of the Dead, metro reporter Sully Carter's investigation into an apparent drug-related death has him dealing with low-life power wielders and high-up power brokers. Street-smart dialogue and details boost a plot complicated by race, class and money.

from On a Clear Day I Can Read Forever

[West Hartford Public Library · Rating 4 out of 5]

"A good read." --patron

[Dave · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have read and loved the first Sully Carter book, so I looked forward to reading this next one, 'Murder D.C.' I found it harder to get into. The first half was slow-moving, and I found myself not caring much about any of the characters. The story revolved around the death of a young, black student from a prominent family and the location where his body was found, one of the worst in D.C. I considered quitting the book, because I wasn't getting much enjoyment from it. Fortunately, my stubbornness won out, because the plot began to get more interesting after the halfway mark. Sully has troubles with his girlfriend, his employer, his shrink, his informants, the mother of the deceased, and the lawyer protecting her. Not to mention Sully's problems with the bottle! Sully limps and stumbles towards solving the mystery by (figuratively) crashing around in circles. Eventually he beats the police to the solution and gets a scoop. I liked the second half of the book a lot. In total, I'd probably give this three and a half stars, if it was possible.

[Steve Wegman · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sully Carter, a hard boiled reporter works to uncover the facts behind the apparent murder of the son of a Washington DC old money black family and gets into the world of gang warfare and skeletons in closets. The book moves quickly and runs a good mystery with good didn't-see-that-coming components, but none of the characters are particularly likeable. Sully is barely staying ahead of his own demons of alcohol and anger. Sorry, but to really like a book I've got to really like the main, or at least some of the major characters. In this book I didn't really relate to any of them.

I got it without realizing it was the 2nd Sully Carter book, but to Tucker's credit, you don't have to read the first to be able to track with what's going on.

[Robert · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really liked the first installment in this fine series. The second just seemed to do that and a bit more. The main character, Sully Carter, is a reporter with a past that likes to dig into the underbelly of Washington D.C. like no other. He likes to lay it out on the table and stink like the swamp the city is built upon. So a Washington elites son is found floating in the canal, this sets up all kinds of fun goings on. I really love how Carter does not back down when pushed against the wall and remains a solid character. I think the author has done a fine job with the second, and yes you should read the first, in this really cool series.

[Connie · Rating 4 out of 5]

The second book in the series, set six months later, the son of the city’s most prominent Black family turns up dead in the Washington Channel, just off the shore from D.C.’s worst drug park. This one is based on a cold case that’s never been solved. Frenchman’s Bend is fictional but DC did have a series of slave pens in the antebellum period. The story of the Pearl and the Red Summer of 1919 are factual.
A gritty mystery which kept me guessing until the end. I can’t wait to read what this author writes next!
Highly recommended!

[Cynthia · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had it figured out about halfway through. Still, it was an okay read. Better than the first book in the series. Sometimes I found myself frustrated with the story because the behavior of the characters did not make sense - street smart and wise to the ways of the world, but didn't make basic connections that even the unwise would have made. Too much suspending disbelief. Glad I got the book from the library and didn't spend money on it. So far, Neely Tucker is a writer I can borrow but not buy. Still, he shows enough talent that I have hope that the writing will get better with time.

[Art · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sully Carter is an investigative reporter in Washington, DC. Back from an overseas assignment, he is placed on the police beat while dealing with serious wounds -- both mental and phsyical.

When a body is found in the Anacostia River, Carter starts looking for the scene of the crime -- and he comes across the murder capital of the murder capital.

I liked Sully and the yarn and will be checking back in with this series.

[Melanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was going to rate it three stars or less because I am not interested in any gang related crime. I was tempted to stop reading as nothing was moving in the main plot. There's a lot of side plot that somewhat comes together 2/3 of the book. The last 1/3 was when things picked up and I just really needed to finish the work! I think if he cut out a huge portion of the fluff it would be tighter. I appreciate Alexis and the history of DC. Pretty harrowing. I'm still committed to this series!

[Peter Sidell · Rating 5 out of 5]

A historical twist with a surprise ending

A great sequel. Sully the character is further fleshed out. More perks into the world of D. C. journalism. Surprise follow surprise but it all holds together, and the journalists talent of evoking a time and place are clear. Looking forward to Sully #3.

[Julie · Rating 4 out of 5]

The back story of St E's, the ice pick lobotomies and all, chilling