Cliff Walk

The legality of prostitution in Rhode Island figures prominently in the plot of DeSilva’s sterling follow-up to 2010’s Rogue Island, which won Edgar and Macavity awards for best first novel. Liam Mulligan, a reporter for the declining Providence Dispatch, must handle a range of stories, from the discovery of body parts in Scalici Recycling’s pig farm in Pascoag to the apparent murder of Sal Maniella, pornographer and owner of several strip clubs, whose body is found on the rocks below Newport’s famed Cliff Walk. Mulligan’s investigative work keeps him hopping, as do sexy black lawyer Yolanda Mosley-Jones, who represents the Maniellas; Mulligan’s divorce-seeking wife, Dorcas; and Maniella’s ex-SEAL bodyguards. Mulligan sports a bad ulcer, plenty of attitude, and connections that span all strata of society. The brilliantly limned supporting characters include Rhode Island attorney general Fiona McNerney (aka Attila the Nun) and earnest Edward Anthony Mason IV, “the scion of six inbred Yankee families that had owned the Dispatch since the Civil War.” Look for this one to garner more award nominations. Agent: Susanna Einstein, LJK Literary. (May)