Valerie Wilson Wesley’s Tamara Hayle mystery series featuring Newark, New Jersey’s number one private investigator are loved for their smart, sexy protagonist who “has a way with a wisecrack that is positively lethal” (Washington Post). Now in Dying in the Dark, Hayle is entrenched in a sinister investigation that will demand her best detective work yet. Tamara Hayle’s past has come back to haunt her–literally. She’s been plagued by terrifying dreams about Celia Jones, an old friend whose walk on the wild side led her to a horrible death. Celia’s teenage son, Cecil, begs Tamara to find his mother’s killer . . . only to end up dead himself, stabbed through the heart. The search for Celia and her son’s killer pulls Tamara deep into her friend’s troubled love life, where everyone adored her but somebody held a murderous grudge. There’s her bullying thug of an ex-husband; a handsome ex-lover who woos Tamara with charm and lies; and an angry, jealous woman who claims that Celia broke her heart. And those were just the obvious people with axes to grind. Despite her better judgment and the admonitions of the police department, Tamara refuses to back away from the mystery surrounding her old friend’s death and the tragedy that met her son. All clues lead to the past Tamara shared with Celia Jones, and Tamara fears that that past will threaten her own son. But she uncovers more than she bargained for–and unearths secrets someone would kill to keep in the shadows.

Dying in the Dark: A Tamara Hayle Mystery

Literature & Fiction

Wesley, Valerie Wilson

United States

One World/Ballantine

One World

Valerie Wilson Wesley’s private investigator, Tamara Hayle, whom the Houston Chronicle calls “smart, sexy, tough but tender,” has earned enthusiastic acclaim from reviewers and readers alike. Now Newark, New Jersey’s savviest detective confronts the one case she never saw coming–and discovers how ties that bind can easily become a noose. Tamara Hayle can’t believe that her life is this good. New York’s most powerful businessman wants her to work for him, her new lover seems caring and supportive, and her son, Jamal, is thriving. But as Tamara sardonically observes, “When things stir that easy, there’s always something lumpy at the bottom of the pot.” Enter Lilah Love, an old acquaintance who begs Tamara to find her missing child. Tamara, however, is wary of Lilah, who attracts mayhem and murder like an alley cat attracts fleas. Next up is Basil Dupre, Tamara’s outlaw ex-lover, who always brings passion–and chaos–when he strolls into Tamara’s life. Suddenly Tamara’s safe world isn’t so secure, especially when Jamal witnesses a brutal murder and becomes the prime suspect. As the body count rises, Tamara and Jamal will follow a long-forgotten secret into a terrifying confrontation with love gone bad, trust turned lethal, and a past hungry to claim more lives.

Of Blood and Sorrow: A Tamara Hayle Mystery

Struggling as a single mother to make ends meet on the mean streets of Newark, New Jersey, ex-cop-turned-PI Tamara Hayle races against time to find a murderer when someone begins killing her ex-husband's sons--and her own son might be next.

When Death Comes Stealing

Putnam Adult

When her latest client, one of the richest, and rudest, African-American males in all of New Jersey, keels over at a fund-raiser, detective Tamara Hayle discovers that everyone in his life had good reason to see him dead. By the author of When Death Comes Stealing.

Devil's Gonna Get Him

Where Evil Sleeps

Sleuth Tamara Hayle is relaxing in Jamaica when she is befriended by Lilah Love from Newark, NJ., but an evening on the town with Lilah and her friends leads to a killing, and Tamara must find a way through her past to get on the path to the murderer. 45,000 first printing.

When Newark lowlife Shawn Raymond is found murdered, private eye Tamara Hayle is asked to look into his death, and a reluctant Tamara soon discovers that his death is tied to corruption within the city's elite. 40,000 first printing. Tour.

No Hiding Place

New Jersey African-American private investigator Tamara Hayle delves into the secret, unglamorous past of a popular female radio talk-show host to find out which of her friends and enemies is determined to drag her off her pretty perch.

Easier to Kill (Tamara Hayle Mystery)

Darnella Desmond is disturbed to learn that her former roommate has been murdered by a serial killer who is stalking Atlantic City's runaway population, but when her mother hires Tamara Hayle to catch the murderer, she uncovers extremely perverse truths about the deceased's family. 22,500 first printing.

The Devil Riding

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Wesley, Valerie Wilson. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Wesley, Valerie Wilson

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Wesley, Valerie Wilson. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Dying in the Dark: A Tamara Hayle Mystery

Dying in the Dark: A Tamara Hayle Mystery

Of Blood and Sorrow: A Tamara Hayle Mystery

When Death Comes Stealing

Devil's Gonna Get Him

Where Evil Sleeps

No Hiding Place

Easier to Kill (Tamara Hayle Mystery)

No Hiding Place

The Devil Riding