Review: Trouble in Queenstown: A Mystery

Trouble in Queenstown: A Mystery by Delia Pitts
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I have never read anything by this author, but I can tell you right now that I am so happy I did. As a matter of fact, I liked the main character  Evander “Vandy” Myrick so much that I would like to see her star in her own series!

This story is filled with lies, dirty politics, obviously murder, and corruption. Racial disparity plays a significant part in this tale.

Vandy is a kick-ass PI with a tragic past. She is now trying to get back on her feet and is handed a case that seems simple enough—or is it?  Excitement flows from these pages; much of it is heart-pounding until the very end, with an ending that I don't think anyone could have seen coming.

I truly enjoyed this novel and couldn't put it down.

I believe you, too, will enjoy the mystery and excitement that I found in this book.

*ARC was supplied by the publisher Minotaur Books, the author, and NetGalley. 

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SYNOPSIS:" With Trouble in Queenstown, Delia Pitts introduces private investigator Vandy Myrick in a powerful mystery that blends grief, class, race, and family with thrilling results.

Evander “Vandy” Myrick became a cop to fulfill her father’s expectations. After her world cratered, she became a private eye to satisfy her own. Now she's back in Queenstown, New Jersey, her childhood home, in search of solace and recovery. It's a small community of nine thousand souls crammed into twelve square miles, fenced by cornfields, warehouses, pharma labs, and tract housing. As a Black woman, privacy is hard to come by in "Q-Town," and worth guarding.

For Vandy, that means working plenty of divorce cases. They’re nasty, lucrative, and fun in an unwholesome way. To keep the cash flowing and expand her local contacts, Vandy agrees to take on a new client, the mayor’s nephew, Leo Hannah. Leo wants Vandy to tail his wife to uncover evidence for a divorce suit.

At first the surveillance job seems routine, but Vandy soon realizes there’s trouble beneath the bland surface of the case when a racially charged murder with connections to the Hannah family rocks Q-Town. Fingers point. Clients appear. Opposition to the inquiry hardens. And Vandy’s sight lines begin to blur as her determination to uncover the truth deepens. She’s a minor league PI with few friends and no resources. Logic pegs her chances of solving the case between slim and hell no. But logic isn’t her strong suit. Vandy won’t back off."