The past doesn’t die easy. Neither do the lies.

When Victor Grayson, a prominent black scholar, drops dead after dining at a rich woman’s table, most folks think ‘heart attack.’ But one doctor thinks ‘murder’ and calls in NYPD’s first black detective sergeant, Nathaniel Redding.

The city’s high and mighty want the scandal dead. The police department wants it buried. One suspect looks perfect: Everett Carlisle, a brilliant writer with a public grudge, a blackmail note, and a reputation that makes conviction easy.

So Redding makes the arrest—only to learn that the man behind bars isn’t the one with the most to hide. But if Redding doesn’t move fast, Carlisle might be the next to die.

It turns out the dead man wasn’t just a professor polishing essays. He was about to expose fraud, betrayal, and a secret a powerful man needed to stay hidden.

Redding follows a murder trail that leads from downtown to uptown. Through the buried history of a man’s lost years in Paris, then south to Washington D.C.

There, among the hallowed halls of academia, the whispers aren’t about murder. They’re about betrayal and theft. They’re about ambition that writes a check and demands that other men pay for it.

Plenty of guilt to go around.

One person to take the fall.

Courtesy of a Dead Man.