New York Times 10 Best Crime Novels of 2024

"Heider is off to a roaring series start with her debut, which introduces the Italian investigator Nikki Serafino working the beat (and wrestling with personal demons aplenty) in seedy, beautiful, baroque Naples."

"...When Serafino is assigned to a team probing the killing of two U.S. Navy officers, she’s thrust into a terrifying web of corruption, violence and murder. Heider, a physicist who lived in Naples for several years, has produced a page-turner of a debut mystery novel." 

"Former Navy analyst Heider parlays her experience in the service into an expert thriller... Though the whodunit is tense and complicated in all the right ways, it’s Heider’s portrait of Nikki—in particular, her home life and her ambivalent feelings about U.S. imperialism—that sets this apart." 

 "Naples — seedy, beautiful, baroque — is the backdrop for this searing debut novel about an investigator working as a liaison between Italian police and the American military. Nikki Serafino...deals with misogynistic male colleagues while investigating not one but two murders." 

 “May the Wolf Die…bowled me over with its descriptions of Naples — seedy, beautiful, baroque — and the trials and tribulations of its main character, Nikki Serafino.” 

 “Heider delivers an intricate and impressive debut…Nikki, in particular, jumps off the page, with her struggles as a woman in law enforcement vividly highlighted. Toss in a pulse-pounding climax, and Heider has a promising potential series on her hands.” 

 "I'm going to say right at the start I think this book May the Wolf Die by Elizabeth Heider is the best debut mystery novel I've read for some time and I think you'll really enjoy it." 

 “The Neapolitan setting and the details of underwater investigation give Heider’s debut an offbeat and entertaining gloss…A lively procedural with a high-powered heroine and a setting that would be idyllic if not for those murders.” 

 “Just a fantastic crime debut. I'll definitely be reading more!” 

 “[An] energetic, labyrinthine police procedural. Heider invests her debut with a strong sense of place with complicated, believable characters and authentic details…Heider is off to an impressive start in her new series with May the Wolf Die.” 

 "...keep an eye on this series!"

 “May the Wolf Die is a brilliant thriller, cleverly crafted and unpredictable.” 

"May the Wolf Die is filled with layers of secrets and nefarious characters.  The stage has been set for several more books in what will be an unforgettable series."

 “An intriguing mystery, a smart central character to root for, gorgeous setting, and authentic detail. This tense and brooding debut is everything crime fiction should be.”  

Favorite books of 2024