Swallowtail

Swallowtail

by Emily Ross

Released November 18, 2025

In the gritty seaside town of Quincy, Massachusetts, the killing of a teenager on her daughter's dance team plunges Detective Samantha Star into the trauma of her abduction twenty years before. As clues point to a serial killer obsessed with Surrealism and Greek myth, Sam must unravel the mystery of her own kidnapping to solve the crime--before her daughter is next. At stake are not just the teenagers' lives, but also Sam's identity as a detective and an artist, and a community's chance at healing.

SWALLOWTAIL is the moving story of a woman's journey to free herself from the trauma of her past, and a thought-provoking exploration of violent representations of women in myth and art.

Emily Ross is the author of the International Thriller Writers Thriller Awards finalist, HALF IN LOVE WITH DEATH. She won the Al Blanchard best story award for her short story, "Let the Chips Fall", which appeared in Devil's Snare: Best New England Crime stories 2024. She is a graduate of Grub Street's Novel Incubator and lives in Quincy, MA, with her husband and their very playful cat.