Dutton and author Linda Fairstein have terminated their publishing relationship, a representative of the imprint has confirmed. Fairstein is the author of the Alexandra Cooper series of crime novels, as well as the middle grade Devlin Quick Mysteries series. The publisher had no further comment.
Fairstein was formerly chief of the Manhattan district attorney’s sex crimes unit, and strongly encouraged the prosecution of five black and Latino teenagers falsely accused of the assault and rape of Trisha Meili while she was jogging in Central Park on April 19, 1989. All five convictions were vacated by New York Supreme Court Justice Charles J. Tejada on December 19, 2002, after convicted serial rapist and murderer Matias Reyes, already serving a life sentence, confessed to assaulting and raping Meili.
The renewed attention to Fairstein's role in the case comes following the release of Ava DuVernay's Netflix series about the Central Park jogger case, When They See Us, although advocates had been criticizing Fairstein and the case's prosecutor for years. It is the latest fallout in the book world for Fairstein, whose Mystery Writers of America Grand Master honors were withdrawn last fall just two days after they were announced.
Fairstein resigned from her positions on the board of trustees at Vassar College and on the boards of directors of the charity God's Love We Deliver and the nonprofit Safe Horizon earlier this month. Her agent, ICM Partners, has also dropped her, Deadline reports.
Correction: This article initially described When They See Us as a documentary series; it is a drama. The article has also been updated with further information.
