Sunset City: A Novel

A taut, erotically charged literary noir set in Houston about a woman caught up in her friend’s shocking murder, and the dark truths she uncovers.

Before the drugs, Danielle Reeves was Charlotte Ford’s most loyal and vibrant friend. She helped Charlotte through her mother’s illness and death, and opened up about her own troubled family. The two friends were inseparable, reveling in Houston’s shadowy corners. But then Danielle’s addiction got the best of her and she went to prison for four years. When she gets out, she and Charlotte reconnect. Charlotte hopes this is a new start for their friendship.

But then, a detective shows up at Charlotte’s apartment. Danielle has been murdered, bludgeoned to death.

Overwhelmed by grief, Charlotte is determined to understand how the most alive person she has ever known could end up dead. But the deeper Charlotte descends into Danielle’s dark world, the less she understands. Was Danielle a hapless victim or master manipulator? Was she really intent on starting over or was it all an act? To find out the truth, Charlotte must keep her head clear and her guard up. Houston has a way of feeding on bad habits and Charlotte doesn’t want to get swallowed whole, a victim of her own anguished desires.

Danielle Reeves was Charlotte Ford’s most loyal and vibrant friend, until Danielle’s drug problem landed her in prison. When she gets out, the two reconnect, hoping for a fresh start. Then, a detective shows up at Charlotte’s apartment. Danielle has been murdered, bludgeoned to death.

Overwhelmed by grief, Charlotte is determined to discover what happened, but the deeper Charlotte descends into Danielle’s dark world, the less she understands. Was Danielle a hapless victim or a master manipulator? Did she really want to start over, or was it all an act? To find out the truth, Charlotte must keep her head clear and her guard up. Houston has a way of feeding on bad habits and Charlotte doesn’t want to get swallowed whole.

“Melissa Ginsburg’s Sunset City entrances from its first pages. Suffused with longing, regret and a twisty eroticism, it’s a mystery of character as much as crime, and is literary noir at its most captivating.” - Megan Abbott, author of The Fever and Dare Me

“Sunset City is a boozy stumble through the lower depths of Houston, Texas, that is sometimes scary, sometimes funny, and sometimes unbearably sad, but never less than riveting. Melissa Ginsburg brings a poet’s eye and ear to this story of a young woman piecing together the circumstances of a friend’s death and depicts the damaged souls who haunt these pages with such grace and empathy that I found myself hoping against hope that at least some of them made it out of this mess alive.” - Richard Lange, author of Sweet Nothing and Angel Baby

“Smart and sexy, sexy and smart, this literary crime novel has it all in. Melissa Ginsburg understands our darkest secrets and desires, and she’s telling what she knows. Get ready, America.” - Tom Franklin, author of Crooked Letter and Poachers

“A web of darkness and sunlight traversed by one of the most memorable heroines of recent years, Sunset City suffuses Charlotte Ford’s journey with a lyricism and yearning that elevates its genre; bruised and heartbroken and sharp as a bandsaw, with a sense of place so real you feel the heatwaves off the asphalt. An exciting debut by a crime writer with real heart and wisdom and the language to carry it.” - Nic Pizzolato, creator of True Detective

“Sunset City suffuses Charlotte Ford’s journey with a lyricism and yearning that elevates its genre. . . . An exciting debut by a crime writer with real heart and wisdom and the language to carry it.” - Nic Pizzolato, creator of True Detective

“In her stunning debut, Melissa Ginsburg has found in Houston what earlier noir writers found in Los Angeles: a dark netherworld of sin, violence, and blighted souls. Sunset City is sexy, disturb-ing, intense, and, at times, movingly poignant.” - Ron Rash, author of Serena and The Cove

“Sunset City has all the elements of a hard-boiled mystery: a violent murder, a troubled but sincere protagonist, an attractive detective. . . . And acting almost as a character itself is the city of Houston, the setting for Ginsburg’s foray into exploitation, drugs, and murder.” - Houston Chronicle

“Ginsburg has penned a perfect detective novel for millennials… [and] a fine feminist read.” - Austin Chronicle

“Sunset City is sexy, boozy, poignant and funny, with the excellence of Ginsburg’s writing more than compensating for some fairly thin plotting. Its pathos, rather than twists and turns, that will keep you glued to the pages.” - The Guardian, Best Recent Crime Novels

“A hardboiled exploration of the seedy side of Houston with sentences as sharp as a machete.” - Literary Hub

Ginsburg, a poet, crafts pitch-perfect dialogue and develops Charlotte and Houston with a disarming mix of nostalgic sadness and brutal honesty. A great recommendation for readers who enjoyed Gillian Flynn’s Sharp Objects (2006).” - Booklist

“Ginsburg evokes some palpable moments of grief, exhaustion, and drink- and drug-fueled bad behavior in a novel that’s steamy in both the sexual and atmospheric senses.” - Publishers Weekly

“A soulful, sexy, dangerous noir. Ginsburg’s simple plot allows atmosphere to suffuse the story. Ginsburg presents a menu of suspects and drops clues nonchalantly, as if she’s writing a fifth noir, not a first. She has created a page-turner with a pitch-perfect conclusion. Sunset City is poetry noir.” - Lone Star Literary Life

“Sunset City draws from classic noir and hard-boiled fiction, but in its themes and depictions of behavior, updates the genre… Without sacrificing the dark tone of her murder plot, Ginsburg perfectly depicts a blasé and non-judgmental attitude towards sex, drugs and employment.” - Mystery People

“Each chapter is like a new melody in this noir hymnal; a survivor’s lamentation... Ginsburg’s economical use of language kept this slim volume moving, but it was clear that each and every word was carefully chosen to convey the correct tone. The chapters are intense, powerful bursts of writing.” - BOLO Books Review

“A taut, colorful and gritty noir.” - Entertainment Realm