The Lonely Witness - by William Boyle (Paperback)

About the Book

When a young woman with a sordid past witnesses a murder, she finds herself fascinated by the killer and decides to track him down herself.

Book Synopsis

When a young woman with a sordid past witnesses a murder, she finds herself fascinated by the killer and decides to track him down herself.

Amy was once a party girl, but she now lives a lonely life, helping the house-bound to receive communion in the Gravesend neighborhood of Brooklyn. She stops in at one of the apartments on her route, where Mrs. Epifanio, the elderly woman who lives there, says she hasn't seen her usual caretaker, Diane, in a few days. Supposedly, Diane has the flu--or so Diane's son Vincent said when he first dropped by and vanished into Mrs. E's bedroom to do no-one-knows-what.

Amy's brief interaction with Vincent in the apartment that day sets off warning bells, so she assures Mrs. E that she'll find out what's really going on with both him and his mother. She tails Vincent through Brooklyn, eventually following him and a mysterious man out of a local dive bar. At first, the men are only talking as they walk, but then, almost before Amy can register what has happened, Vincent is dead.

For reasons she can't quite understand, Amy finds herself captivated by both the crime she witnessed and the murderer himself. She doesn't call the cops to report what she's seen. Instead, she collects the murder weapon from the sidewalk and soon finds herself on the trail of a killer.

Character-driven and evocative, The Lonely Witness brings Brooklyn to life in a way only a native can, and opens readers' eyes to the harsh realities of crime and punishment on the city streets.

Review Quotes

Boyle is from Brooklyn, and his easy familiarity with this milieu shows up on virtually every page. If you like the richly nuanced novels of George Pelecanos or Dennis Lehane, be prepared to add Boyle to your regular reading list.

Powered by brilliantly realized characters, a richly described and grittily realistic backdrop, and subtle yet powerful imagery, this is crime fiction at its best: immersive, intense, and darkly illuminating.

Once a party girl, Amy now lives a solitary existence. This remarkable discordance is riveting, especially after Amy witnesses a murder and becomes at once traumatized by the crime and obsessed with the murderer. Amy elicits the same dark fascination as Sara Gran's stellar neo-noir detective, Claire DeWitt. Boyle was featured in a Guardian write-up that compared him to Elmore Leonard and declared him a 'new name to watch.' That watching continues with this outstanding thriller.

About the Author

William Boyle is from Brooklyn, New York. His novels include: Gravesend, which was nominated for the Grand Prix de Littérature Policière in France; The Lonely Witness, which was nominated for the Hammett Prize and the Grand Prix de Littérature Policière; A Friend Is a Gift You Give Yourself, an Amazon Best Book of the Year; and, most recently, City of Margins, a Washington Post Best Thriller and Mystery Book of 2020. He lives in Oxford, Mississippi.