MY REVIEW
The eye catching cover and title for I Don’t Wish You Well by Jumata Emill made me curious. You can say curiosity killed the cat, because Pryce Cummings, a podcaster and aspiring journalist, starts his own investigation into Moss Pointe, Louisiana’s Trojan mask killings and someone wants to keep the secrets buried. Did they really catch the killer? There are many who believe they had convicted an innocent man, and the deeper Pryce dug, the more he is convinced they got it wrong.
Moss Pointe is a small town with small minded people. Church and football were worshiped. Being gay in a racist town had Pryce struggling to keep his sexuality secret, at least until he left for college, where he felt free to explore.
Pryce gets help from an unlikely source, free spirited Izzy. He wears his gayness in the open. Pryce slowly begins to understand what he has sacrificed to keep his secret.
“That paranoia hasn’t drained you yet? God, I felt suffocated under it when I lived here.”
Halfway through the pace picked up. Bodies fell and secrets were exposed. All the questions raised by vigilante justice arise. I love thought provoking books, and I Don’t Wish You Well by Jumata Emill had me wondering…what would I do if I walked a mile in someone’s shoes?
My thanks go out to NetGalley and Delacorte Press for the opportunity to read I Don’t Wish You Well by Jumata Emill.
GOODREADS BLURB
A teen investigative podcaster decides to dig into the truth behind a grisly murder spree that rocked his hometown five years ago, but soon discovers that this cold case is still hiding deadly secrets—in this chilling thriller perfect for fans of A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder.
Five years ago, the infamous Trojan murders turned the small town of Moss Pointe, Louisiana into a living nightmare. Four teen boys—all star players on Moss Pointe High’s football team—were murdered one after the other by a Trojan-mask wearing killer.
Eventually, the murderer was unmasked. But the community has never forgotten—and some folks in town still wonder whether the police got it right.
Eighteen-year-old Pryce Cummings is one of them. An aspiring journalist, Pryce is pretty sure he just stumbled upon evidence that throws the killer’s guilt into question. It’s the perfect story for his own podcast, and a reason to go back to the hometown he’s avoided since coming to terms with his sexuality while at college.
But in Moss Pointe, digging into the past is anything but welcome. There’s so much more to what happened in there five years ago, and Pryce is ready to crack it all wide open . . . if he lives to tell the tale.
- Genre: Crime, Fiction, LGBTQ, Mystery, Queer, Suspense, Thriller
- 400 pages, Hardcover
- First published January 20, 2026 by Delacorte Press
ABOUT JUMATA EMILL
Jumata Emill is a journalist who has covered crime and local politics in Mississippi and parts of Louisiana. He earned his BA in mass communications from Southern University and A&M College. He’s a Pitch Wars alum and a member of the Crime Writers of Color. When he’s not writing about murderous teens, he’s watching and obsessively tweeting about every franchise of the Real Housewives. Jumata lives in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and is the author of The Black Queen and Wander in the Dark.
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