Apr 15, 2026
Author Melanie Anagnos discusses her debut novel, Nightswimming. The story drops us straight into the gritty streets of Paterson, New Jersey, circa 1979. Jamie Palmieri, a young patrol officer barely three years out of the academy, suddenly finds himself pulled into a brutal double-murder investigation. What begins as a request for an extra pair of hands quickly becomes something far more dangerous, as Jamie realizes the killer may be turning his sights on him. But Nightswimming isn’t just a tense police procedural—it’s a sharp look at the era’s entrenched injustices, including the way female victims were routinely dismissed by a police force that was overwhelming male. Melanie describes Nightswimming as gritty mystery that is definitely of its time.