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Five Decembers

by James Kestrel

A homicide investigation across the Pacific during World War II

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Awards & Recognition

  • Award recognition

    2022 Edgar Award winner for Best Novel

    Winner of the 2022 Edgar Award for Best Novel

  • Critical praise

    Praised by Pico Iyer for its story, detail, and vivid setting

    Praise for the book’s story, detail, and depiction of a world new to almost every reader.

AlbakiReads Editorial

A homicide investigation across the Pacific during World War II

Beginning in Honolulu in December 1941, the novel sets police detective Joe McGrady’s homicide investigation against the approach of war. The trail leads him across the Pacific and away from the woman he loves, while the story spans the entirety of World War II. Crime investigation provides the narrative thread, with the wider scope bringing in survival, love and loss, and the human cost of war. The book connects one detective’s case to a conflict unfolding across the Pacific.

Good fit for readers who enjoy

  • For readers of crime fiction set against historical events.
  • For readers interested in World War II stories that connect investigation with love, loss, and survival.

Themes

Crime investigationWorld War IISurvivalLove and lossThe human cost of war

Based on publisher information and book metadata.

Book overview

Winner of the 2022 Edgar Award for Best Novel

"War, imprisonment, torture, romance...The novel has an almost operatic symmetry, and Kestrel turns a beautiful phrase."
New York Times

Five Decembers is a gripping thriller, a staggering portrait of war, and a heartbreaking love story, as unforgettable as All the Light We Cannot See.

NOMINATED FOR BEST NOVEL IN THE 2022 EDGAR AWARDS

NOMINATED FOR BEST THRILLER IN THE 2022 BARRY AWARDS

"Read this book for its palpitating story, its perfect emotional and physical detailing and, most of all, for its unforgettable conjuring of a steamy quicksilver world that will be new to almost every reader."
Pico Iyer

December 1941. America teeters on the brink of war, and in Honolulu, Hawaii, police detective Joe McGrady is assigned to investigate a homicide that will change his life forever. Because the trail of murder he uncovers will lead him across the Pacific, far from home and the woman he loves; and though the U.S. doesn't know it yet, a Japanese fleet is already steaming toward Pearl Harbor.

This extraordinary novel is so much more than just a gripping crime story--it's a story of survival against all odds, of love and loss and the human cost of war. Spanning the entirety of World War II, FIVE DECEMBERS is a beautiful, masterful, powerful novel that will live in your memory forever.
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