Publication Date: July 15, 2025
The critically acclaimed author of The Good Ones returns with an edge-of-your-seat thriller about a powerful Southern family whose dark secrets set in motion a chain of events with deadly consequences.
In their younger years, Trey Macready and his best friend Ben Marsh were distributors and enforcers for the local distillers who made their small hamlet of Ewald, Virginia, the moonshine capital of the world. But that was years ago, and now the only tie to their criminal past is the Felons’ Ball—Trey’s annual birthday party where they regale the crowed with tales of their youthful exploits. But when Ben is found dead after Trey’s fiftieth celebration, it’s clear those connections may not be past at all.
Finding Ben’s body propels his much-younger secret lover, Natalie—Trey’s daughter—to search for Ben’s estranged son, Lanny, and to find the truth about his killing. Her quest will lead to a battle with a police department that refuses to ignore her family’s history, and to form unexpected connections with Hardy, the sheriff investigating the case, and her brother-in-law Jay, who had a very public fight with Ben on the night of his murder.
When Jay goes missing on the morning he planned to meet Natalie, she begins to wonder if her mother was right . . . and if the past should be left in the past.
A woman finds herself poised to probe into secrets from the past in order to solve a high-profile murder.
Author Polly Stewart highlights the illustrious Macready family in The Felons’ Ball. This Southern family, based loosely on the Murdaughs in South Carolina, has plenty of secrets, given that the patriarch made his money through the moonshine business.
The focus of the story is the annual celebration coinciding with Trey Macready’s birthday. When Ben, his best friend and business partner, is found dead after the party, everyone seems to ignore the past.
However, Trey’s daughter has a vested interest in finding the truth. Natalie also has secrets that she would like to keep quiet. Those secrets, though, force her to dig up the past, where she finds herself stuck between loyalty to her family and the truth.
With well-developed characters, the author takes readers deep into this community where a family name is much more than just a label; it’s an institution.
The Felons’ Ball offers an engaging level of suspense as the truth finally comes to light.
Polly Stewart is the author of The Good Ones. She grew up in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia, where she still lives. Her short fiction has appeared in Best American Mystery Stories, and her nonfiction has appeared in the New York Times, Good Housekeeping, and other publications. She writes the monthly Backlist column for CrimeReads.
