My Debut Novel - "West By God"

Something’s not quite right in the quiet mountain town of Targrady, West Virginia…

Months after a local teen was lynched in the dead of a hot summer night, two men stand charged with murder in what the majority opinion considers to be an open-and-shut case. But Adelaide Stephenson, a young crime reporter from Charleston, is finding out the smallest cracks in the official narrative run far, far deeper than she could have ever expected.

Join Adelaide in West By God as she navigates small-town secrets, the dubious ethics of her own profession, and the dark whispers of an ancient creature — known to some as the Witchum Woman — who prowls the shadowed hollers that lie between night and nightmare.

Sent on overnight assignment to cover the start of the trial, Adelaide quickly realizes the story she’s been told — and been telling — doesn’t make sense. Cryptic assertions of a concrete alibi are emailed to her by the family of the accused, nobody in town seems comfortable discussing the basic facts of the case, and the murder she’s been writing about wasn’t the only tragic death this summer. Adelaide extends her stay against the wishes of her editor, and her investigations take a complicated and dangerous turn as she discovers the true depths of the mysteries surrounding Targrady. The only real evidence from the night of the murder may lie in the hands of a notorious local crime family led by an enigmatic woman known as the Fetid Queen, local authorities seem to grow more hostile by the hour, and even Adelaide’s own career might not survive this assignment.

Featuring an eclectic cast of characters ranging from violent and horrifying to outlandish and fabulous, West By God is a must-read novel for anybody who enjoys Twin Peaks, Stephen King, and all the creepy places you find just off the path in the woods. It is the debut novel of Tyler Bell: A USMC infantry combat veteran, former crime and courts reporter for the Charleston Daily Mail, and creator of the award-winning Westside Fairytales Horror and Dark Fiction Podcast.

Due for release by The Henlo Press in October of 2023.

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