Murder of Crows

When a beloved pastor is found dead, private investigator Harris Bushvill is drawn into a world where faith, politics, and power collide. What begins as a murder case becomes a revelation an unmasking of the uneasy alliance between the modern Black church and state control. Through the haunting metaphor of the 501(c)(3) "Sleeping Pill," Shannon Riley exposes how religion can be used to quiet prophets, suppress truth, and pacify a people on the edge of awakening. Told in a voice both weary and defiant, Murder of Crows moves between the sacred and the street, the pulpit and the underworld, where every sermon hides a secret and every prayer costs a price. The crows ever circling bear witness to judgment, rebirth, and the enduring will to rise. Echoing the spirit of James Baldwin, Walter Mosley, and Colson Whitehead, Riley delivers a powerful blend of noir suspense, social commentary, and spiritual confrontation. Murder of Crows is part mystery, part gospel, part awakening a story about silence and truth, loyalty and betrayal, and the faith required to stay awake when the world wants you asleep.