It’s publication day for Christi Daugherty’s second crime thriller, A Beautiful Corpse.
Published in hardback in the US today by St. Martin’s Press, this is the second novel from Christi featuring crime reporter Harper McClain…
Harper McClain is back on the job as a crime reporter at the Savannah Daily News. But things have changed.
Marie Whitney’s murderer is behind bars because of McClain’s reporting, but the police aren’t about to thank her for that. She crossed the thin blue line, and the cops now see her as an enemy. This means no more cosy chats with the detectives. No more invitations to after-hours parties with the patrol cops. But the icy reception doesn’t stop Harper. If anything, she’s more determined than ever to get the story.
At least things are less tense at the newspaper’s offices. The Whitney murder case was massive and Harper’s job is secure for now. But Harper still doesn’t know who broke into her apartment and wrote a warning message on the wall. The police won’t help, and she has few clues to go by. Nothing has happened since the break-in, and yet she’s more cautious than ever – constantly watching her back.
One busy autumn night, after covering two stabbings and a car crash, Harper is blowing off steam at The Library Bar when photographer Miles Jackson calls to give her a heads up. A murder’s been committed at the heart of the city’s tourist district. The victim is Yolanda Davis. She was young and pretty – a bartender at Rosie Malone’s pub, a popular hangout for local politicians and journalists. She’d just left the bar after her shift when she was shot once in the neck with a 9mm, semi-automatic. There were no witnesses.
At first, it appears to be a terrible, if ordinary, robbery gone wrong – Yolanda’s bag and phone are missing. But, two days later, a man shows up at the newspaper, identifying himself as Jarrod Davis, Yolanda’s father. And he tells Harper he knows who the murderer is…
The novel has received brilliant reviews in the lead up to publication:
“Harper McClain is fast becoming one of my favourite kick-ass crime fighters. A book that is gripping, atmospheric and effortlessly cool, despite the Savannah heat.” Cass Green, author of Don’t You Cry
“gripping… Harper is an appealing character readers will want to see more of. The ongoing mystery about Harper’s mother provides ample fodder for future enquiries” Publisher’s Weekly
“Christi Daugherty’s A Beautiful Corpse is all I want in a modern thriller–a hard-boiled female sleuth who just happens to be a reporter at a struggling newspaper, an irresistible setting–Savannah, Ga. in all its sultry, evocative, maddening beauty, and a ripped-from-the headlines #MeToo plot. A Beautiful Corpse is a smart, compelling read that I wish I’d written myself!” Mary Kay Andrews, New York Times bestselling author of The High Tide Club, The Weekenders and Savannah Blues
C. J. Daugherty was 22 when she saw her first dead body, working as a crime reporter in Texas. Although she’s now left that world, she has never lost her fascination with what it is that drives some people to do awful things as well as the kind of people who will try to stop them. Her first adult novel, The Echo Killing, was published in 2018 by HarperCollins and St. Martin’s Press.
Christi also writes young adult fiction as C. J. Daugherty including international bestselling Night School series. Born in the USA, C.J. Daugherty has lived in the UK so long she considers herself British. She is well known for her books about Ireland and Paris for Frommers (Wiley) and has co-written books with her husband, the BAFTA nominated filmmaker Jack Jewers.
