As the Wicked Watch: A Novel

The first in a thrilling new series from Emmy Award-winning TV Host and Journalist Tamron Hall, As The Wicked Watch follows a reporter as she unravels the disturbing mystery around the deaths of two young Black women, the work of a serial killer terrorizing Chicago.When crime reporter Jordan Manning leaves her hometown in Texas to take a job at a television station in Chicago, she’s one step closer to her dream: a coveted anchor chair on a national network.Jordan is smart and aggressive, with unabashed star-power, and often the only woman of color in the newsroom. Her signature? Arriving first on the scene—in impractical designer stilettos. Armed with a master’s degree in forensic science and impeccable instincts, Jordan has been able to balance her dueling motivations: breaking every big story—and giving a voice to the voiceless.From her time in Texas, she’s covered the vilest of human behaviors but nothing has prepared her for Chicago. Jordan is that rare breed of a journalist who can navigate a crime scene as well as she can a newsroom—often noticing what others tend to miss. Again and again, she is called to cover the murders of Black women, many of them sexually assaulted, most brutalized, and all of them quickly forgotten.All until Masey James—the story that Jordan just can’t shake, despite all efforts. A 15-year-old girl whose body was found in an abandoned lot, Masey has come to represent for Jordan all of the frustration and anger that her job often forces her to repress. Putting the rest of her work and her fraying personal life aside, Jordan does everything she can to give the story the coverage it desperately requires, and that a missing Black child would so rarely get.There’s a serial killer on the loose, Jordan believes, and he’s hiding in plain sight.

a propulsive, compelling mystery, but also a nuanced look at class and racial inequality. With Jordan Manning, Tamron Hall has given us a smart, empathetic heroine to cheer on for years to come.”

“As the Wicked Watch is a terrific read

a moving take on familiar but urgent problems and society's indifference.”

“Tamron Hall's debut novel As the Wicked Watch is a singular thriller that brings the vulnerability and systemic neglect of Black girls as victims of violent crime into vivid relief...The cohesiveness and sheer scope of the narrative Hall has woven together is impressive...Readers interested in the gritty details of crime reporting and investigation will be intrigued...Ultimately, As the Wicked Watch is an impressive debut

Publishers Weekly (starred review)"A pulse-pounding story that also provides a fascinating and important look into the difficulties of reporting on and finding justice for Black victims. Emmy Award–winning Hall’s extensive background as a TV journalist, including reporting for NBC and anchoring for MSNBC, infuses a great deal of credibility and behind-the-scenes verve to her first crime novel."

“Emmy Award–winning broadcast journalist Hall’s outstanding debut and series launch introduces TV journalist Jordan Manning…Hall brings insight and nuance to such matters as journalism ethics, police treatment of murder cases involving Black women, and competition among journalists and their reliance on those behind the scenes. Readers will want to see a lot more of intelligent, ambitious, and assertive Jordan.”

Library Journal"Tamron Hall’s new novel introduces a detective sure to become an icon...It is a powerful, clear-eyed novel that demands accountability, from its fictional world, yes, but also the real one."

“Hall’s decades of field experience lend a lot of credibility to the story and provide a strong footing for an intriguing new crime series.”

About the Author

Tamron Hall is the Emmy Award–winning host and executive producer of the popular nationally syndicated talk show Tamron Hall. Formerly of the Today show, she has also hosted six seasons of Deadline: Crime on Investigation Discovery. While at NBC, she was a recipient of the Edward R. Murrow Award for her report on domestic abuse. Tamron currently serves as an advocate for domestic violence awareness.

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