The Windowman - by Christopher Goffard (Hardcover)

Book Synopsis

A Publishers Weekly Best Book of 2026!

An accused LA serial killer disappears after being released on appeal, triggering a nationwide manhunt and descent into obsession that will thrill fans of Elmore Leonard and James Ellroy.

With a series of occult slayings, a killer known as "the Windowman" terrorizes Southern California and sends the media into overdrive.

Damon Midnight goes down for the crimes, but a botched prosecution sets him free. As he starts a new life in an idyllic suburb, he vanishes--and three intertwining narratives explore his public and private faces.

Annabelle Picolini is the Orange County schoolteacher who loves him. Harlan Crumb is the tormented prosecutor who is hunting him. Blaire Belmont is the hapless method actor who wants to be him--at least long enough for his breakout movie role. As they orbit around the mystery of Damon Midnight, clues to his fate begin to emerge.

Blending suspense and gallows humor, The Windowman is a twisty psychological crime novel that casts a wry glance at the American fixation on killers and fame.

Review Quotes

Praise for The Windowman
"A whipcrack thriller that shakes up blood-soaked comedy and ice-cold crime into a perfect crimson cocktail."
--Joe Hill, bestselling author of King Sorrow

"A sharp story of serial killers, celebrity culture, and parasocial relationships . . . Goffard's novel impressively melds mystery and cultural commentary on the way to its morbidly ironic conclusion. Incisive and often hilarious, it's a treat for thriller enthusiasts and general readers alike."
--Publishers Weekly, starred review

"Unsettling, yet intriguing . . . The Windowman is a gripping character-driven thriller that carries a lot of weight."
--Capes & Tights

"Christopher Goffard's The Windowman is a straight-up masterpiece. From the first sentence, we know we're in the hands of man who knows his way around crime, character, popular culture, and the infinite, riveting weirdness of contempo Southern California Just when you thought the serial killer genre has gone belly up, a writer like Goffard comes along to supercharge and re-invent the whole enterprise. The tone is irreverent, dark, occasionally hilarious and absolutely, irresistibly riveting. Window Man is the kind of book that makes you want to drag strangers out of their seats on airplanes and make them read. Trust me, they'll thank you. I loved it."
--Jerry Stahl, author of Permanent Midnight

"The Windowman packs a double-edge--it's a gripping manhunt for a serial killer that also holds up a cracked mirror to our collective fascination with serial killers. Goffard's eye for the darkly comic detail is just great, and he deploys it through some original angles--including a schoolteacher pregnant by the accused and a frenetic obsessed method actor who wants to be him. Truly twisted and entertaining."
--Daniel Weizmann, author of the Pacific Coast Highway Mystery series

About the Author

Christopher Goffard is a journalist, novelist, screenwriter, and podcaster. A Los Angeles native, he graduated from Cornell University. His 2007 novel, Snitch Jacket, was a finalist for the Edgar Allan Poe Award for Best First Novel. At the Los Angeles Times, where he is a staff writer, he was part of the team that won the Pulitzer Prize in Public Service in 2011 for a series exposing corruption in the city of Bell. He has twice been a Pulitzer finalist for feature writing as well as the winner of the Edward R. Murrow Award and the Mayborn Literary Nonfiction Award. His work appeared in the Best American Newspaper Narratives anthology five years in a row.