The Darkest Game

One of the most fascinating detectives to have come along in years, Tully Jarsdel isn’t your typical cop. He abandoned a doctoral program to attend the police academy. He was raised by two dads, one of whom escaped Iran as a refugee. And he’s a brainiac—with so much trivial knowledge that his partner, detective Oscar Morales, calls him Rain Man. But he’s perfectly suited to investigate the death of Dean Burken, who was violently murdered in his own home. Burken, it turns out, was a registrar at The Huntington, a museum, library, and garden. Registrars can be powerful people, and Tully is quick to realize that Burken was abusing his position—in a big way. From deep inside The Huntington to Catalina Island, off the coast of Los Angeles, Tully and Jarsdel pursue a narrative of fraud, corruption, and greed. Fortunately, the detective work is offset with family issues, as one of Tully’s parents has a serious health crisis and the other struggles to deal with his past in the Iranian revolution. Throughout, Tully remains introspective, elusive, and unsettled—making the prospect of a fourth book all the more compelling.