Dark Lady - Hardcover

Arthur Bright is the prosecutor of Erie County, but he wants to become mayor. His campaign attacks the new ballpark as a boondoggle, "a shameful diversion of public financing from such pressing needs as better schools, better housing, and safer streets." His protégé, Assistant County Prosecutor Stella Marz is 38, ambitious, and has been dubbed "the dark lady" by various defense lawyers. If Arthur wins the mayoral race, she intends to become prosecutor herself. But two murders involving drugs and twisted sex threaten her future.

First, Tommy Fielding, the project manager for Steelton 2000 (as the new home of the Steelton Blues will be called), is found dead in the company of a hooker--both apparently having overdosed on heroin. The fact that Fielding was gay and had never used drugs before bothers Stella and Chief Detective Nathaniel Dance. Their worries are soon pushed aside by another, more shocking murder--Jack Novak, a defense lawyer, is discovered hanging from his closet door, castrated and dressed in drag. Jack was once Stella's lover--and he was also one of Bright's largest contributors. For Stella, the murders are too close to home. "Maybe this is about me. But I have to see it through."

Dark Lady is shrouded by the dark clouds of deceit and greed, and the sleek structure of Steelton 2000 dominates the landscape like a Dr. Frankenstein's Castle with luxury boxes. --Dick Adler

In Steelton, a struggling Midwestern city on the cusp of an economic turnaround, two prominent men are found dead within days of each other: the general manager of the company that is building a new baseball stadium, the city's hope for the future; and the local drug dealers' attorney of choice. In each case, homicide is suspected but not immediately provable; in each case, the character of the dead man seems contradicted by the horrific particulars of his death. But Stella Marz--Assistant County Prosecutor, head of the homicide division of the prosecutor's office--is about to discover that these deaths are connected in less obvious, more insidious ways. Her investigation will lead her into a terrifying, dizzying maze of corruption, greed, and murder, involving not only Steelton's dark history but also her own complicated, difficult past as well. And the closer she comes to the truth, the higher and more personal the cost she will be forced to pay...

Richard North Patterson's uncanny dialogue, subtle delineation of character, and hypnotic narrative, have earned his comparisons to John O'Hara and Dashiell Hammett. Now, in Dark Lady, he has created a woman as fascinating as her circumstances are frightening. It is his signature work.