The Sleeping and the Dead: A Jackie Lyons Mystery -- by Jeff Crook

“Crook brings the world of the dead and the living together perfectly in this captivating mystery starring one of the most wonderful, unlikely protagonists I’ve come across. Jackie Lyons is a flat-out train wreck -- an ex-cop turned crime scene photographer battling addiction who happens to see dead people. You will love her, not in spite of her faults and demons, but because of them.” -- Jennifer McMahon, New York Times bestselling author of Promise Not to Tell and Don’t Breathe a Word

"A fun, spooky ride." -- Tom Franklin, Edgar Award-winning author of Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter

"There is no killing me softly in this hardboiled song from a southern city sinking into the abyss; a terrific tale hammered down on filthy keys in a lost bar.” -- Åke Edwardson, author of Sail of Stone

“Read The Sleeping and the Dead and you may never buy a camera from a stranger.” -- Pieter Aspe, author of The Square of Revenge

"Crook presents a dark and creepy mystery with a brave but deeply flawed heroine." -- Kirkus Reviews

"While Jackie's crude, callous narration may not win her much sympathy, her rough edges and erratic behavior make it difficult to turn away. Crook deftly explores the human fascination with the macabre at the same time he draws attention to the reader's own voyeuristic impulses." -- Publisher's Weekly

"Jackie is a fascinating, vulgar protagonist whose rough coldness and her ghostly acquaintances make for an intriguing refreshing hard-boiled paranormal mystery. Fast-paced, fans will appreciate her whodunit inquiry while guiltily relishing the macabre as the heroine knows the more gruesome the crime scene the higher the sale (mindful of serial-killer cards from the early 1990s and Capone’s crypt)." -- The Mystery Gazette

"Crook... knows Memphis top to bottom in this, his first crime novel, and part of the pleasure for local readers of The Sleeping and the Dead will be the book's insider knowledge of the city." -- Leonard Gill, Memphis Magazine

"Set in a murky stretch of rain that shuts out or shuts in much of the action around her, the mystery draws readers into Jackie's dark and dysfunctional world... His first mystery sets a high standard that readers can only hope he matches consistently from now on." -- Mary Foster, Associated Press



"This series starter should go right to the top of all bestseller lists. It is very well written, with fresh new characters, an unusual atmosphere and setting and an explosive ending. Crook’s voice is well developed although this is his first mystery. It is not for everyone. The violence is extreme. Jackie is an often unlikable anti-heroine. However, it’s an excellent read that you won’t be able to put down." -- Page Traynor, RT Book Reviews

"Author Jeff Crook does a fine job creating the evil antagonist. Indeed, all of the characters are extremely well rendered. Desperately flawed, dangerously corrupt, and profoundly maladjusted, the personages who populate this novel are not the kind of folk that would be first choices for a party guest list. They do, though, make for fascinating fiction." -- Sheila M. Merritt, HellNotes

"Jeff Crook unleashes one of crime fiction's most tarnished and likeable good gals, tottering on the razor's edge of self destruction and saving grace." -- JC Patterson, The Madison County Herald