Little Deaths

by Emma Flint

Overview

It's 1965 in a tight-knit working-class neighborhood in Queens, New York, and Ruth Malone — a single mother who works long hours as a cocktail waitress — wakes to discover her two small children, Frankie Jr. and Cindy, have gone missing. Later that day, Cindy's body is found in a derelict lot a half mile from her home, strangled. Ten days later, Frankie Jr.'s decomposing body is found. Immediately, all fingers point to Ruth.

As police investigate the murders, the detritus of Ruth's life is exposed. Seen through the eyes of the cops, the empty bourbon bottles and provocative clothing which litter her apartment, the piles of letters from countless men and Ruth's little black book of phone numbers, make her a drunk, a loose woman — and therefore a bad mother. The lead detective, a strict Catholic who believes women belong in the home, leaps to the obvious conclusion: facing divorce and a custody battle, Malone took her children's lives.

Pete Wonicke is a rookie tabloid reporter who finagles an assignment to cover the murders. Determined to make his name in the paper, he begins digging into the case. Pete's interest in the story develops into an obsession with Ruth, and he comes to believe there's something more to the woman whom prosecutors, the press, and the public have painted as a promiscuous femme fatale. Did Ruth Malone violently kill her own children, is she a victim of circumstance — or is there something more sinister at play?

Inspired by a true story, Little Deaths, like celebrated novels by Sarah Waters and Megan Abbott, is compelling literary crime fiction that explores the capacity for good and evil in us all.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780316272483
Publisher:	Hachette Books
Publication date:	10/17/2017
Pages:	320
Product dimensions:	5.20(w) x 7.90(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

Emma Flint was born in Newcastle upon Tyne in northeast England. She studied English and History at the University of St Andrews and is a graduate of the Faber Academy writing program in London. Since her childhood, Flint has read true-crime accounts, developing an encyclopedic knowledge of real-life murder cases and of notorious historical figures, as well as a fascination with unorthodox women — past, present and fictional. Flint works as a technical writer in London, where she lives. She is the author of Little Deaths.

What People are Saying About This

New York Times bestselling author of One Less Problem Without You - Beth Harbison

"An absolutely gripping debut! Emma Flint spins a lyrical tale of horror and suspense in the vivid and thick atmosphere of 1965 Queens. Even after I finished, the story would not leave me. I cannot wait to read more from this talented author."

From the Publisher

“I absolutely believed in the setting: the sleaze, the corruption, and the glamour. The dialogue is pitch perfect and Ruth Malone is a complex and fascinating character. This is a novel about sex, obsession, and discrimination, but it's also a thriller that keeps you guessing until the last page.” -Ann Cleeves

“A gripping read that is at the same time deeply real. A beautifully written and realized debut. I absolutely loved it.” —Kate Hamer, author of The Girl in the Red Coat

“I couldn't put it down . . . So utterly satisfying, intriguing, and brilliant that everything else falls short. I can't wait for Emma Flint's next book.” —Emma Chapman, author of How To Be a Good Wife

“Gripping and shattering. Ruth's story will stay with me for the rest of my life.” —Erin Kelly, author of The Poison Tree

“LITTLE DEATHS is a stunning feat . . . Ruth Malone's descent into hell is a riveting tale of bad luck, heartbreak, and prejudice, written with the pace of a thriller and the rich detail of a historical novel.” —Jane Casey, author of The Missing

“Emma Flint's LITTLE DEATHS beguiles readers with a most harrowing crime: two children dead, their mother, Ruth, the likely suspect. Readers will as easily pity Ruth as doubt and denounce her, as Flint seduces us with a gem of a whodunit, making us question our every instinct. Deeply moody and moving, LITTLE DEATHS embodies the role of women in the sixties, especially those who dared to deviate from societal norms.” —Mary Kubica, New York Times bestselling author of The Good Girl

“An absolutely gripping debut! Emma Flint spins a lyrical tale of horror and suspense in the vivid and thick atmosphere of 1965 Queens. Even after I finished, the story would not leave me. I cannot wait to read more from this talented author.” —Beth Harbison, New York Times bestselling author of One Less Problem Without You

“Utterly atmospheric and with style to burn, Emma Flint's LITTLE DEATHS is a novel that troubles and transfixes from its simmering first pages all the way to its searing final words.” —Megan Abbott, author of You Will Know Me

“LITTLE DEATHS is a rarity: a period piece and police procedural that is wrenching and real and deeply moving. I fell fast and hard under the spell of this lush, moody, film noir of a novel.” —Chris Bohjalian, New York Times bestselling author of The Guest Room, The Sandcastle Girls, and Midwives

“A phenomenal achievement. LITTLE DEATHS is one of those so-very-rare accomplishments: a lightning fast, heart-pounding, psychologically resonant crime novel that effortlessly transcends genre. If you believed that literary fiction can't be a one-sitting read, think again.” —Jeffery Deaver

Editorial Reviews

"Little
Deaths offers vivid,
psychologically convincing portraits of memorable, multifaceted characters... Even minor details and characters are fully realized. This impressive debut novel is as much literary fiction as it is a compelling mystery."—Mystery Scene

"This taut thriller really shines when it goes deep into Ruth's head, revealing not only her grief and despair over her loss but also her chafing at the conformist culture that pronounces her 'guilty in the beauty parlors, the backyards, and the kitchens of Queens.'"—Oprah.com

"Couldn't stop reading.... The magic of Flint's book lies in its feverish,
spellbinding, summer-sticky atmosphere. .... She's created a nuanced historical portrait of lower-middle class life, and the desperate obsession that Rose and her accusers share seeps slowly into the reader, in the best style of Ross
Macdonald or Megan
Abbott."—Charles Finch, USA Today

From the Publisher

★ 10/10/2016
One of New York City’s classic tabloid crime cases—cocktail waitress Alice Crimmins’s controversial conviction for the 1965 murders of her two young children—becomes the springboard for British author Flint’s affecting, achingly beautiful debut. That Ruth Malone, a separated single mom, leads an active sex life, including trysting with married men while her five-year-old Frankie Jr. and four-year-old Cindy remain home alone, locked in their bedroom, makes her the only suspect police seriously look into after her estranged husband reports the youngsters missing. And yet the deeper that fledgling crime reporter Pete Wonicke digs into the story, the more he becomes convinced that while Ruth may be guilty of many things, killing her kids isn’t among them. Eschewing easy answers or Perry Mason miracles, Flint focuses squarely on Ruth’s stiflingly straitened life in working-class Queens, close enough to gaze at the bewitching lights of Manhattan yet distant enough to feel marooned in another galaxy. This stunning novel is less about whodunit than deeper social issues of motherhood, morals, and the kind of rush to judgment that can condemn someone long before the accused sees the inside of a courtroom. Agent: Jo Unwin, Jo Unwin Literary Agency (U.K.). (Jan.)

Publishers Weekly

★ 11/01/2016
Alluring Ruth Malone lives an unconventional life for a single mother with two young children. In her tiny apartment in 1965 Queens, NY, heavy smoking and hard liquor abound, and her ex-husband is concerned about her succession of lovers. With her short skirts and low necklines, Ruth, a striking cocktail waitress, doesn't present well in the court of public opinion. When her children go missing and are found dead, detectives believe Ruth committed this horrific crime. Only a rookie reporter is convinced that the cops might be on the wrong track. A harsh, overbearing detective builds the case against Ruth, and tension painfully saturates the investigation as inflammatory evidence slowly comes to light. When the story reaches its quiet yet stunning denouement, this strangely sympathetic heroine will earn reluctant readers' respect. Inspired by true events, Flint explores how people respond to extreme circumstances and how quick observers can be to judge. VERDICT This accomplished debut novel will intrigue fans of both true crime and noir fiction. Flint, a technical writer in London, is a welcome addition to the world of literary crime fiction. Readers of Megan Abbott may want to investigate. [See Prepub Alert, 7/11/16.]—Gloria Drake, Oswego P.L. Dist., IL

Library Journal

2017-01-03
One hot summer in New York, 1965, a sexy, troubled cocktail waitress is suspected of murdering her children.Flint's debut novel begins in a prison cell, where Ruth Malone struggles to awaken from a dream of her old apartment building in Queens—putting on her makeup in the bathroom, smoking her first cigarette of the day, "the blast of Gina's radio overhead, Tony Bonelli's heavy tread on the stairs….Nina Lombardo yelling at her kids next door." This is where it happened, where one morning in July she unlatched her children's bedroom door to find them gone. Cindy and Frankie, ages 4 and 5, not in bed with a storybook, not snuggled together under their blue blanket, but disappeared. Within days their bodies are found in a dump and a nearby woods, strangled, decomposed. Having heard the story from Ruth's point of view, the reader is assured of her innocence, though a self-righteous belief in her guilt is shared by many of her neighbors, the media, and, most importantly, the lead detective on the case, who is absolutely determined to "crack that whore." She is believed to be a bad mother, a woman who goes to too many bars, sees too many men, drinks too much booze, a woman who has recently dumped her husband even though he was ready to forgive her for cheating on him. Her only significant ally is a young newspaperman who at first sees the case as the key to launching his career but becomes so obsessed that he quits the paper to try to prove Ruth's innocence. Since we know where it begins, it seems we know how it must turn out—but there are a few surprises left. Sharply rendered literary noir, compelling enough to forgive a slightly left-field resolution.

Kirkus Reviews