From Publishers Weekly
Hard-boiled, fast-talking Quinn, a Seattle cop turned PI, faces new challenges in her edgy second outing (after Argula's Edgar-nominated 2006 debut,
Homicide My Own). Quinn has scored a job with Vincent Ainge, a mitigation investigator who helps keep convicted serial killers off death row. She's also taken on her first case as a PI: finding Eileen Jones, a popular, attractive 18-year-old who vanished from her job in Vincent's office building. Vincent's attraction to Abby Jones, Eileen's mother, interferes more than it helps with Quinn's investigation, but his connections become invaluable when Eileen's body is found, and Roger Merck, a disturbed man with a record of sexual assault, is charged with the murder and due to be executed if convicted. Quinn, suspicious of Merck's sudden confession, digs deeper and learns the shocking, brutally poignant truth. Quinn sometimes comes off too tough and cynical, but Argula takes care to show her emotional side as well, creating an impressively well-rounded and modern heroine.
(Sept.) Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Product Description
Quinn, a newly divorced ex-cop, retains custody of her wild hot flashes, her twisted tongue, her fey sense of humor, and her propensity for trouble. Now trying to get a foothold as a P.I. in a new city, Quinn takes what she thinks will be a safe job with Vincent Ainge, to whom she is oddly attracted. Vincent, who has his own demons, is the only mitigation investigator in the Northwest working to save the lives of convicted killers from ending at the gallows in Walla Walla state prison.
When a young secretary named Eileen vanishes, the woman’s boss hires Quinn to track her down. What looks like a missing-person case turns out to be anything but, sucking into its wake Vincent, his demented father, Eileen’s barely legitimate boss, her sexually vulnerable mother, a serial rapist and possible serial killer, and, of course, Quinn herself. Quinn’s improvised investigation takes her to the dangerous dark corners of the human psyche and casts suspicion where she least expects it, which will ignite a burst of violence and a resolution that readers won’t see coming.
“This book will delight anyone who has ever feared that the private detective novel has no new tricks–or voices–up its sleeve.”
–Laura Lippman, author of
What the Dead Know
“Anne Argula brings a welcome voice to the noir novel with Quinn, who is earthy, gritty, but above all, a mature woman. We don’t have enough of those.”
–Sara Paretsky, author of
Fire Sale
“A terrific, suspenseful tale of murder, driven by interesting and quirky characters, leavened by edgy self-deprecating humor, and resolved by a surprising twist.”
–Joseph Wambaugh, author of
Hollywood Station
“A wonderful novel–smart, funny, and remarkably humane.”
–James Crumley, author of
The Right Madness“Anne Argula’s menopausal detective will give mystery fans multiple hot flashes of horror, humor, and surprise.”
–Tom Robbins, author of
Villa Incognito
