Fentanyl. The latest scourge of Monticello's street. A detective, a street-level dealer, and an ambitious police official, it will weave its way through their lives and change their fates.

For Detective Jessica Branson, it makes the house she can't afford unlivable and unrentable. When her tenants overdose, one fatally, her career teeters toward a crash.

For Marcus Lincoln, it's the latest product, his ticket to the top of the Game as he moves up in the gang that still rules the city's Holland Bay neighborhood. But one man stands in his way, and Linc holds a grudge. Between making his anger known and building his new empire, he finds himself on the bad side of the city's drug lord.

For Derek Roberts, the drug becomes a major headache and a political football as he navigates between two ambitious candidates for mayor. But it's also an opportunity to reach one of his longtime goals: Getting rid of Jessica Branson.

An imprisoned drug boss, a scheming council member, and a former Amish man running a junkyard complicate matters. But it all ties together when a maligned breed of dog kills a little girl in the neighborhood of Beaumont Heights.

Praise for The Dogs of Beaumont Heights:

“Sets up on page one and never lets up.” —Colin Campbell, author of the acclaimed Jim Grant Thrillers

“Fast-paced and meticulously detailed, Jim Winter’s spicy new crime novel crackles with intensity. He does a tremendous job of pulling together the tangled threads of his complex story in a thoroughly satisfying manner.” ––Patrick H. Moore, author of 27 Days and Rogues and Patriots

“Winter knows how to mix and match, and the thrills come quickly. Definitely a novel for today that suits its readers who like their action a little uncivilized.” —G. Miki Hayden, Writer’s Digest University mystery and thriller writing instructor

“Jim Winter’s The Dogs of Beaumont Heights will keep you turning pages into the wee morning hours, through your coffee, out the door, and on breaks at work. A great addition to the thriller lover’s library shelf.” —Susan Wingate, #1 Amazon bestseller of award-winning How the Deer Moon Hungers

“Winter dishes up a compelling cast of characters on various sides of the law, a strong sense of place, and a gritty, twisty plot to weave an explosive tale of corruption and violence that burns hot from start to finish.” —Andrew Welsh-Huggins, Shamus Award-nominated author of the Andy Hayes private eye series

“Winters’ work smacks of McBain and Wambaugh, but there's a modern street-level tenor here—a wide aperture aimed squarely at the probing tendrils of unabated drugs and corruption.” —Matt Phillips, author of Countdown, Accidental Outlaws, and The Bad Kind of Lucky

“Jim Winter takes the reader deep inside the hardshell, bloody world of cops and criminals, an intensely focused dive into the seamy world rural America is becoming. A thoroughly engrossing novel.” —Jack Getze, author of Making Hearts

“A first-class crime story where local politics is rife with backroom deals, the police force is buried in corruption, and organized crime is on the rise. At the epicenter is Jessica Branson, a shrewd, attractive, no-nonsense detective who gets results.” —Jonathan J. Brown, author of the Lou Crasher thrillers and winner of the Barbara Neely Scholarship Award 2021

“With a fast-paced plot where the stakes increase with every turn of the page, Jim Winters has written a scorching Midwest crime epic where sociopathic drug dealers, opportunistic cops, and crooked politicians all feed from the rotting underbelly of a city in crisis.” —Chuck Marten, author of Bad Guy Lawyer

“Winter weaves a masterful tale of gritty, urban suspense. No one is clean; everyone has a secret. Getting to the bottom of it keeps the pages turning.” —TG Wolff, author of the De La Cruz Casefiles and co-creator of Mysteries to Die For podcast