The Color of Death
Colm Truesdale Book 1
Trey Gowdy
Fox News Books in partnership with Harper Influence
August 2025
The Color of Death by Trey Gowdy is his first attempt at fiction and it is a home run. The novel was written with the help of mystery and thriller writer Christopher Greyson, a Wall Street Journal bestselling author.
This psychological crime novel draws heavily from Trey Gowdy’s own experiences as a prosecutor for sixteen years. He prosecuted murder cases, including seven involving the death penalty. He is currently a Fox News Host of Sunday Night in America and hosts a podcast. It is obvious by his dog’s names what job he loved. They are named Judge, Jury, Bailiff, and Justice.
“The spine of this novel is the real murder of a young woman, Dana Satterfield, who owned/operated a beauty salon and was brutally murdered with the killer not apprehended for a decade. Although every other part of the crime is different: the killer, the suspects, and the murder weapon… It was a way for me to honor her and the parents. It happened in 1995. I talked with the Sherriff about that case a lot. She had two children.
Regarding the police and the judge in the story, “The police are an amalgamation of the homicide detectives I worked with. I did not bump into any corrupt judges while a prosecutor for sixteen years, but obviously bad judges make for a good mystery. I prosecuted over 100 cases, so I know the relationship between prosecutors and the police and between prosecutors and crime victims. The media and TV shows usually get it wrong.”
The plot has Assistant District Attorney Colm Truesdale agreeing to investigate the brutal murder of a South Carolina small-town beauty salon owner, Rachel. Yet he must also face his demons, struggling to regain control over his life that was shattered with the death of his wife and young child.
“Colm has guilt and grief. He is caring, cynical, but empathetic. Colm has been dealt the worst two cuts, losing a child and then losing a wife. I have a line in the book, “Apathy is just a socially acceptable form of slow suicide.” He is apathetic of his own well-being. He has a gift that he can help people who cannot help themselves, while at the same time he cannot help himself. He wants good things to happen to good people and bad things to happen to bad people.”
A bonus is that Gowdy presents readers with an understanding of what prosecutors must go through. The author allows readers to take a journey into the mind of Prosecutor Colm as they see the emotional toll he takes seeking justice for the victim. People will also see the darker side of humanity and sympathize with the victim instead of the criminal.
“I write in the book that the best prosecutors put themselves in the position of the victim and then communicate that to the jury. The challenge with being a homicide prosecutor is that their victim is dead, so they must figure out how to communicate what that is like to a jury. They do it through this magically marriage of passion and logic. I put in the book, prosecutors try to feel like a victim and think like a killer. Prosecutors never have to prove why in a murder case, but a jury does want to know the why. What would cause someone to do this? I spent much more time trying to figure out what the defense would argue. I spent a ton of time thinking like a killer, particularly if they will testify. What are they going to say?”
This story has many twists as readers gain an insight into the justice system and how prosecutors work with the homicide detectives to find the predator. The story is very engaging, fast moving, and riveting
