Editorial Reviews

“Anagnos smartly uses the structure of the police procedural to probe the ways in which the 1970s were both an incredibly progressive and sneakily regressive time for women – and the ways men struggled to keep up when things were changing at such a dizzying clip…and brings Paterson, at this juncture, to vivid life.”

– Sarah Weinman, The New York Times Book Review

“…debut novelist Anagnos sweats so many procedural details of Jamie’s painstaking investigation that you’ll sweat along with him. The real star of this show is Paterson, which feels as menacing, vivid, and multilayered as Walter Mosley’s Watts.”
– Kirkus Review

“Nightswimming is my favorite kind of crime novel-rich, character-driven crime that drops me right into the action. Melanie Anagnos beautifully conjures a 1970s Paterson, New Jersey that feels so lived in, I practically teleported. This is just the best kind of noir-a crime as complex and relevant today as it ever was, a world where one good man can still make a difference. I cannot wait to dive back into the world of Jamie Palmieri!”
-Halley Sutton, USA Today bestselling author of The Hurricane Blonde

“Contemplative, pacy, and with a setting so vivid you can taste the industrial grit on your tongue. Paterson, New Jersey in the late 1970s is not a place I’ve ever yearned to visit; by the time I reached the propulsive climax of Anagnos’s story, I never wanted to leave.”

– Kat Rosenfield, author of the Edgar Award-nominated thriller, No One Will Miss Her

“… all the intrigue, twists, turns, and danger one would hope for in a great crime novel. Anagnos has written a compassionate, emphatic, sweet and sexy protagonist who I not only like but love…A page turner is an understatement. Nightswimming pulls you in and doesn’t let you go.”
-Patricia TM Dunn, author of the award-winning novel, Her Father’s Daughter

Review

Nightswimming by Melanie Anagnos is a debut that feels both nostalgic and freshly alive, a story rooted in the grit of the past but pulsing with emotional immediacy. It is a taut, character-driven police procedural set in Paterson, New Jersey, 1979, that manages to be both a gripping crime story and a deeply emotional portrait of a man trying to do right in a city and an era where justice rarely runs straight.

The story follows Jamie Palmieri, a young patrol officer desperate to move up the ranks when a double homicide lands on his desk. What begins as a straightforward investigation soon becomes something much darker; a labyrinth of distrust, corruption, and obsession that blurs the line between cop and prey. Author Anagnos captures the tension of the procedural perfectly with the long hours, the frustrating leads, and the constant second-guessing, but it’s Jamie’s emotional exploration that makes the book truly unforgettable. He’s vulnerable, principled, and haunted, the kind of protagonist readers root for not because he’s flawless, but because he’s real.

What impressed me most is how Anagnos balances crime and context. This isn’t just a mystery about two murders; it’s a story about a city in transition, still reeling from the Rubin “Hurricane” Carter trials, simmering with racial tension, gender shifts, and working-class despair. The author’s depiction of 1970s Paterson is vivid and sensory, you can feel the industrial grit on your skin, smell the cigarette smoke in the station house, hear the uneasy quiet between officers who no longer trust each other. The prose is clean and cinematic, the pacing steady and deliberate until it explodes into moments of real danger.

Overall, Nightswimming is astriking debut. It is atmospheric, emotionally intelligent, and perfectly paced. Nightswimming blends the precision of classic noir with the introspection of modern literary crime. Perfect for readers of Dennis Lehane, Tana French, or anyone who loves their mysteries layered with heart and history.

---

You can also read this review at:

---

---