The Darkest Hearts

We're big fans of music mysteries here at *CrimeReads* , so I'm psyched for the new Nelson George...A complex mystery that should serve as the perfect quarantine distraction.

\-- ***CrimeReads* ** , One of the Most Anticipated Crime Books of 2020

This dark, rollicking mystery is the fifth in George's D Hunter series...D's point of view, his self-confessed vulnerability, and his deep appreciation for music, from R&B on, make this thoroughly satisfying reading.

\-- ***Booklist* **

A showcase of different approaches to values, business, and hip-hop seen through a lens that feels personal.

\-- ***Kirkus Reviews* **

Nelson George's *The Darkest Hearts: A D Hunter Mystery* stars a talent-manager protagonist encountering human trafficking, reactionary politics, and a dead body near the Canarsie Pier.

\-- ***Library Journal** * , selected by Barbara Hoffert as a 2020 Title to Watch

Former bodyguard D Hunter has moved to Los Angeles to become a talent manager. Business is good: he has signed a hot Atlanta rapper named Lil Daye for management and negotiated a lucrative endorsement with a liquor band. However, when D learns of the liquor CEO's unsavory sexual habits and reactionary political views, he worries that he has sold his soul.

Back in Brooklyn, a body has been found in the waters near the Canarsie Pier, a body that connects D and the retired hit man Ice to incidents from back in *The Plot Against Hip Hop* , the second book in the series. Because of this discovery, an FBI agent wants to speak to D, which is making Ice nervous. And Ice is not a man you want worrying about you.

Meanwhile in London, Serene Powers, a vigilante and sometime collaborator with D, breaks up a human trafficking ring. In the process, she makes some new, unlikely allies. When Serene returns to the US, D asks her for assistance with a sensitive and volatile matter in Atlanta involving Lil Daye, his wife, his mistress, and a thug on his payroll named Ant.

*The Darkest Hearts* reflects the challenges of being a black businessperson in an era when the rules of entrepreneurship are constantly shifting beneath an increasingly polarized political environment.