Jordan Manning

When crime reporter Jordan Manning leaves her hometown in Texas to take a job at a television station in Chicago, she’s one step closer to her dream: a coveted anchor chair on a national network. Jordan is smart and aggressive, with unabashed star-power, and often the only woman of color in the newsroom. Her signature? Arriving first on the scene—in impractical designer stilettos. Armed with a master’s degree in forensic science and impeccable instincts, Jordan has been able to balance her dueling motivations: breaking every big story—and giving a voice to the voiceless. From her time in Texas, she’s covered the vilest of human behaviors but nothing has prepared her for Chicago. Jordan is that rare breed of a journalist who can navigate a crime scene as well as she can a newsroom—often noticing what others tend to miss. Again and again, she is called to cover the murders of Black women, many of them sexually assaulted, most brutalized, and all of them quickly forgotten. All until Masey James—the story that Jordan just can’t shake, despite all efforts. A 15-year-old girl whose body was found in an abandoned lot, Masey has come to represent for Jordan all of the frustration and anger that her job often forces her to repress. Putting the rest of her work and her (fraying) personal life aside, Jordan does everything she can to give the story the coverage it desperately requires, and that Black children rarely receive. Jordan is convinced that there’s a serial killer on the loose and he’s hiding in plain sight.

Following her powerhouse debut, As the Wicked Watch, Emmy Award winner Tamron Hall returns with another edge-of-your-seat Jordan Manning thriller. This time Jordan delves into the case of a missing mother of two and uncovers a dangerous and scandalous web of secrets that could lead right to the missing woman-or put Jordan in the crosshairs of her abductors. "With Jordan Manning, Tamron Hall has given us a smart, empathetic heroine to cheer on for years to come." - Alafair Burke, New York Times bestselling author Marla Hancock, a stay-at-home mother, has left her verbally abusive marriage and temporarily moved in with her sister, Shelly. But after dropping off her eldest child at preschool, Marla disappears and isn't seen again. Shelly can't believe her sister would leave her children behind. Due to their town's under-resourced police department and limited media resources, Shelly fears Marla's case won't get the attention it deserves, or worse will never be solved. So, several weeks after filing a missing person's report, she reaches out to TV journalist Jordan Manning for help. Weeks after solving the Masey James and Tiana Mosley cases, Jordan Manning's career has taken off. Jordan's investigative and reporting skills in those murders have elevated her status in the newsroom, as well as her public persona, gaining her a reputation as more than your typical news reporter: a "fixer" with a vigilante edge, dogged and undeterred to seek the truth. But even with this new status, Jordan still feels pressure to prove herself as a young Black professional. When Shelly reaches out to her, she understands her concerns and feels compelled to do all she can to find Marla. As Jordan goes to any lengths to track down Marla, she unravels a dark web of secrets and scandal that may lead right to Marla.