Set in Philadelphia in 1986, this blistering first in a new urban noir series from bestseller Woods (True to the Game
) introduces 22-year-old Daisy Fothergill, a naïve African-American stripper. Daisy accepts $2,000 from an organized crime rep to provide an alibi for Bernard “Nard” Guess after he shoots two thieves to death as well as a buddy by accident in a North Philly drug house. An innocent witness to the bloodbath identifies Nard to the police, but pays a fatal price. When Daisy arrives home to tell her mother, Abigail, of her windfall and finds Abigail dead of natural causes, she discovers the $2,000 barely covers funeral costs. Her life takes an even nastier turn once Daisy starts dating Reggie Carter, a fast-talker who soon deserts her. Later, a pregnant Daisy flees to Murfreesboro, Tenn., to seek refuge with her aunt, but eventually she must return to Philly for a day of reckoning. This wickedly satisfying page-turner will leave readers eager for the next installment. (Aug.)
