JAMES DEVITA

author of My American Unhappiness

An unpredictable, intelligent mystery that illuminates the darkness simmering in the most idyllic of places. With a little help from the Shakespeare he knows so well, and a keen eye for the gritty realities of rural life, James DeVita brings an incredible cast to this novel's stage, led by one of the most compelling detectives you’ll ever meet.

Chicago Book Review

In addition to a unique detective, a wholly original story, and some literary flair, Devita has filled these pages with some timely and biting social commentary, which does much to add to the real feel of this creative whodunit. A Winsome Murder is well written, well wrought, and well paced. It is well worth a read, a fun, enjoyable, engaging page-turner that draws you in and doesn’t let go until the last page.

DeVita . . . creates deep and substantial characters with histories that drive their motives. Detective Mangan’s internal voice often quotes Shakespeare . . . giving him characteristics of a deeply intelligent, well-read man working an unjust and bloody job.

author of Where Darkness Sleeps

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. It’s a fine study of contrasts that folds into a taut, multilayered, highly enjoyable whodunit.

NY Times Bestseller, author of Bagmen

This debut crime novel is a haunting tale of grief and murder that will not soon be forgotten. In James Mangan, DeVita has created a wholly original detective, and it is a treat to follow along as the voices of Shakespeare and Melville lead him to the story's explosive conclusion. With fast plotting and stellar writing, A Winsome Murder is not to be missed.

An engaging mystery that’s a feast of literary allusions. . . . [Detective James] Mangan’s ‘verbal quirks,’ snatches of prose or poetry that pop into his head and help him solve cases, make him an unusually distinctive sleuth.