The Gods of Gotham by Lyndsay Faye

One of Publishers Weekly' s Top Ten Mystery/Thrillers of the Year
One of Kirkus Reviews' Ten Best Crime Novels of the Year
One of Gillian Flynn's "Recommendations for the Season" on Today
Edgar(R) Award Nominee for Best Novel
ALA Reading List Award for Best Mystery

1845: New York City forms its first police force. The great potato famine hits Ireland. These two events will change New York City forever..

Timothy Wilde tends bar, saving every dollar in hopes of winning the girl of his dreams. But when his dreams are destroyed by a fire that devastates downtown Manhattan, he is left with little choice but to accept a job in the newly minted New York City Police Department.

Returning exhausted from his rounds one night, Tim collides with a girl no more than ten years old. covered in blood. She claims that dozens of bodies are buried in the forest north of Twenty-Third Street. Timothy isn't sure whether to believe her, but as the image of a brutal killer is slowly revealed and anti-Irish rage infects the city, the reluctant copper star is engaged in a battle that may cost him everything.