The Laughing Dead
Published on 22. July 2025
Book
Paperback/Softback
331 pages
978-1-6625-1416-6 (ISBN)
Description
Two murder investigations, decades apart, threaten to expose a cold case agent's darkest secrets in a pulse-pounding thriller by the Edgar Award-nominated author of The Taken Ones.
The bodies of three teenage girls are found in central Minnesota-each with her mouth fixed in a ghoulish grin, smiling at a deadly joke no one can hear. But authorities eventually close and forget the curious case, dubbed the Laughing Dead.
Decades later, cold case agent Evangeline "Van" Reed is called to the scene of a crime where the victim wears that same horror-movie smile. But this time someone seems to be sending a message: Van's police ID has turned up at the scene, making her the prime suspect. It's not that outlandish, considering her secrets-ones she's never even told her partner, forensic scientist Harry Steinbeck.
As she feels others closing in, Van reopens the mystery of the Laughing Dead, hoping to find a connection to clear her name. But the search only gets darker. Because the more Van digs backward in time, the closer she comes to a terrible truth: Everything she has spent her life trying to hide is returning to haunt her.
The bodies of three teenage girls are found in central Minnesota-each with her mouth fixed in a ghoulish grin, smiling at a deadly joke no one can hear. But authorities eventually close and forget the curious case, dubbed the Laughing Dead.
Decades later, cold case agent Evangeline "Van" Reed is called to the scene of a crime where the victim wears that same horror-movie smile. But this time someone seems to be sending a message: Van's police ID has turned up at the scene, making her the prime suspect. It's not that outlandish, considering her secrets-ones she's never even told her partner, forensic scientist Harry Steinbeck.
As she feels others closing in, Van reopens the mystery of the Laughing Dead, hoping to find a connection to clear her name. But the search only gets darker. Because the more Van digs backward in time, the closer she comes to a terrible truth: Everything she has spent her life trying to hide is returning to haunt her.
Reviews / Votes
"Through some expert plot twists that Jess Lourey throws at us, we will be surprised by how this unpredictable story gets resolved. [Leaving] the door wide open for the fourth entry in the series." -The BookReporter"Turn on the lights and check your locks before settling down with Jess Lourey's latest thriller. The Laughing Dead is a tense, twisty read that will grab you by the throat and won't let go until you race to the very last, spectacularly creepy page." -Melinda Leigh, #1 Wall Street Journal bestselling author
"Jess Lourey slays in this spellbinding, spine-tingling mystery and thriller about Evangeline Reed, a complex and intriguing protagonist whose personal history and desire for justice make her perfect to take on the case of the Laughing Dead. The story explores Van's dark and tragic past, her struggles with guilt and forgiveness, and her fight for redemption and deliverance from evil. Writing from multiple perspectives, Lourey weaves an intricate tale of despair and hope, leading to an explosive and gripping climax that had my jaw dropping to the floor." -Yasmin Angoe, author of the Nena Knight trilogy and Not What She Seems
More details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
Seattle
United States
Publishing group
Amazon Publishing
Product notice
Paperback (trade)
Dimensions
Height: 211 mm
Width: 135 mm
Thickness: 23 mm
Weight
342 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-6625-1416-6 (9781662514166)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Person
Jess Lourey is the Amazon Charts bestselling author of The Quarry Girls, Unspeakable Things, Litani, and Bloodline, as well as the Reed and Steinbeck 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.