Dirty Metal - (Parker Snow Thriller) by Allison Lamothe (Hardcover)

Book Synopsis

"Standout debut. . . LaMothe is a startling and original talent." --CrimeReads

New York City, 1992. The city is rough. Parker Snow is rougher.

Parker Snow is the best crime reporter at her tabloid, The New York Street. Or at least she was. Since a colossal screwup landed her on the sidelines, she's been demoted to covering the Russian mob that's flooded Brighton Beach after the fall of the USSR.

When Parker stumbles on the body of a 20-year-old woman in Brooklyn with no witnesses or suspects, the cops want to write off as just another pin in the crime map. But Parker doesn't buy it--especially when a second woman turns up dead under nearly identical circumstances, this time in Chinatown.

Will Parker stay in her lane?

Doubtful.

Now she's running down two stories at once: a simmering mafia turf war, and a possible serial murderer stalking the city. Fighting the pull of the little orange pill bottle she always has in her pocket, Parker will stop at nothing to find out the truth.

That is, if her demons--or the killer--don't get to her first.

A CrimeReads 2026 Most Anticipated Thriller - "A bold debut befitting its bold heroine." --Kirkus (starred review) - "A razor-sharp debut." -- Lauren Nossett, ITW Thriller Award-winning author - "Vibrating with heart, grit, and an uncompromising moral clarity." -- Alafair Burke, NYT bestselling author

Review Quotes

"LaMothe's language is electric, crackling with energy. . . A bold debut befitting its bold heroine."
--Kirkus (starred review)

"Standout debut. . . LaMothe is a startling and original talent and her new book may just be the year's big breakout debut."
--CrimeReads

"Dirty Metal is one of the boldest debut novels I've read in years. Allison LaMothe is a wildly talented writer with an exacting eye for detail and her tenacious tabloid reporter, Parker Snow, is gutsy, whip-smart, and the perfect tour guide through pre-Giuliani New York City. I absolutely loved this book." --Julia Dahl, author of I Dreamed of Falling and Invisible City

"Driven by a need for redemption, both for herself and the murdered women, Parker Snow proves she's as gritty and relentless as the streets she covers--making Dirty Metal a razor-sharp debut."--Lauren Nossett, ITW Thriller Award-winning author of The Professor and The Resemblance

"A rough and tumble debut that crackles with voice and style, Allison LaMothe's Dirty Metal will ring in your head long after you've turned the last page. Boasting all the ingredients of a must-read thriller--a plucky and complicated protagonist, mesmerizing setting, and gripping mystery--Dirty Metal is a poised and poignant story that feels more like a tenth novel than a first." --Alex Segura, bestselling and award-winning author of Secret Identity and Alter Ego

"Set in 1992 NYC, Dirty Metal rumbles and roars like a downtown express train. From the Lower East Side to Bensonhurst to Brighton Beach, Allison LaMothe's relentless reporter, Parker Snow, leaves no door un-knocked and can smell a liar a mile away. Her investigation pushes her to the limit in this debut that is vibrating with heart, grit, and an uncompromising moral clarity." --Alafair Burke, New York Times bestselling author of The Note

"This novel has a real chance of contending for a debut Edgar or Anthony Prize. Confident but not cocky, mouthy but not sassy, it will be on a lot of TBR lists."
--Library Journal

"Solid debut thriller. . . LaMothe hits the beats of a satisfying neo-noir--a deliciously dark atmosphere, a wounded hero, a corrupt urban underbelly--with ease."
--Publishers Weekly

About the Author

Allison LaMothe is a writer based in Miami by way of New York. After studying French and English with a concentration in poetry writing at the University of Virginia, she spent a year in Russia before moving on to New York City. When not writing or reading three books at a time she can generally be found in the dance studio, in the kitchen, or under water. Dirty Metal is her first novel.