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About The Book

The Goat Woman of Largo Bay begins the detective series featuring Shad, a bartender in a fishing village in Jamaica, who is the community problem solver and right hand of Eric, an American who owns the bar and a hotel left in ruins by a hurricane.

When Shad sees movement on the island offshore, he thinks it’s just a goat. But it turns out to be Simone, an American who has run away from her professional and personal life in the U.S., an intriguing woman who captures Eric's heart. Always keeping his ear to the ground, Shad discovers that a gunshot heard near Simone’s place late one night isn’t exactly friendly fire, rather it’s tied to a plot to harm Simone and ultimately manipulate local elections. But why does someone want to harm Simone? And what does she have to do with the elections? Only Shad can find out.

An irresistible character is born in The Goat Woman of Largo Bay and Royes wonderfully blends suspense and the soul of the islands in this smart debut.

About The Author

Photograph by Migdalia Brathwaite

Gillian Royes is the creator of the Shad series, detective novels that take place on the North Coast of Jamaica. The first in the series is The Goat Woman of Largo Bay, followed by The Man Who Turned Both Cheeks, The Sea Grape Tree, and The Rhythm of the August Rain. Prior to that she authored two nonfiction works entitled Business Is Good and Sexcess: The New Gender Rules at Work. She has also ventured into scriptwriting with Preciosa, a film directed by Peter Sagnia, as well as a play called How to Be an Immigrant. A native of Jamaica, Gillian pursued her higher education in the United States, obtaining a doctorate from Emory University. She currently lives in Atlanta and on the island of St. Croix, where she lectures at the University of the Virgin Islands. Find out more at GillianRoyes.com.

Product Details

  • Publisher: Atria Books (September 27, 2011)
  • Length: 320 pages
  • ISBN13: 9781451627428

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Raves and Reviews

"Strong characters and vivid descriptive passages." —Kirkus Reviews

"The writing in The Goat Woman of Largo Bay is poetic at times and the plotting of the story is more literary in its approach but still leads to a tense climax that will have the reader engrossed to the end." —New York Journal of Books

"A strong debut... I look forward to following the adventures of Shad and the inhabitants of Largo Bay." —Executive producer of Precious

"An irresistable character is born in The Goat Woman of Largo Bay and Royes wonderfully blends suspense and the soul of the island in this smart debut." —Jamaican.com

"Bring together a ruined hotel, a disheartened dreamer, a hard working bartender turned amateur sleuth and a mysterious beauty hiding on a tiny uninhabited island, throw in a dash of political corruption, and you have all the elements for a first class detective story, which novelist Gillian Royes certainly delivers with her novel The Goat Woman of Largo Bay. That said, the thing that makes this book impossible to put down is the author's amazing eye for the details of life in this tiny Jamaican town. How can you possibly resist a hero who cools tempers in a heated political exchange by putting on some classic Toots and the Maytals reggae music to get the vibe back on track?" —Pearl Cleage, author of Just Wanna Testify

"Gillian Royes weaves beautiful story." —Dr. Marta Moreno Vega, author of When the Spirits Dance Mambo

[Royes] does an outstanding job of creating a small Jamaican village – it is so vivid that the reader feels part of the environment – and deftly shows the social and political life on the island. The novel is an absorbing read and one that won’t be forgotten quickly.

–Barbara Cothern, Portland Book Review

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