The Crying Killer

A woman's secret. A small town with a dark past. A serial killer bent on revenge. Lies kill in a shocking true crime-inspired thriller by the Edgar-nominated author of The Quarry Girls.

Tuesday Hendrickson has spent eight years running from memories of that night. Her sister's screams. Blood on the walls. And Arsen Bauer, a monster known as the Crying Killer, shot down in a barrage of bullets as he fled. Case closed.

Intending to build a safe new identity out of the ashes, Tuesday changed her last name and moved away. She's now a private investigator who guards herself and her daughter, Julia, like their lives depend on it. And maybe they do. Because unless she's imagining things, Tuesday has seen Arsen on the streets of Saint Paul. She'd know her sister's killer anywhere.

When bodies begin surfacing bearing the Crying Killer's brutal and unmistakable signature, Tuesday is certain he's coming for them. Except no one believes that but her. As her paranoia intensifies, she is left with a terrible choice: unearth the shocking secret she buried with her sister, or become the Crying Killer's next victim.

(c) 2026 by Jess Lourey, all rights reserved.

Jess Lourey is the Amazon Charts bestselling author of The Quarry Girls, Unspeakable Things, Litani, and Bloodline, as well as the Steinbeck and Reed thrillers, the Salem's Cipher novels, and the Murder by Month rom-com mysteries. Lourey writes about secrets, fosters kittens, and travels. She's surpassed a million readers; been short-listed for the Goodreads Choice Awards and the Edgar Award twice each; and won the International Thriller, Anthony, and Minnesota Book Awards. She also has an active reader group on Facebook called Lourey's Literati. For more information, including a link to her TEDx Talk, in which she discusses the surprising inspiration behind her writing career, visit www.jesslourey.com.