October 28, 2022
DEBUT YA author Giarratano's (Dead and Breakfast) debut adult novel is a fun, fast-paced mystery. Jewish PI Billie Levine has revamped her grandfather's investigation business based in a North Jersey deli in order to care for her ailing mother and pay the bills. She accepts a large stack of cash from local rich kid Tommy Russo, to find his missing girlfriend. But when the missing person case turns into a murder investigation, and the cops have Tommy in their sights as the main suspect, Billie realizes she took on more than she bargained for. The case descends into a tangle of decades-long feuds between crime families, an unsolved cold case, and a large missing diamond. And Billie must solve the case to find her way out alive. Set in New Jersey's crime world, this novel is a spunky take on hard-boiled detective drama. VERDICT The story has the writing style of a YA novel but is aimed at adult audiences. Suggested for both younger readers new to crime fiction, as well as returning genre readers looking for something to spice up their reading.--Angel Caranna
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November 21, 2022
YA author Giarratano makes her adult debut with a strong mystery featuring 24-year-old neophyte PI, Billie Levine. Still paying off her student loans, Billie has taken over her grandfather’s investigative firm, which operates from the corner booth of a Teaneck, N.J., deli. She hopes that the flexible hours will give her time to take care of her mother, who has early-onset Alzheimer’s. Billie can’t afford to turn down the money offered by her new client, Tommy Russo, a well-heeled college student with a serious drug habit. He asks her to find his girlfriend, Jasmine Flores, a 21-year-old college student and part-time stripper at the Malta club. When Jasmine turns up dead, Tommy becomes the prime suspect. While gathering background on Jasmine, Billie learns that the young woman was the force behind a true crime podcast called the Murder Girls. Could there be a connection between Jasmine’s death and the 1991 murder of Starla Wells, known as the “cabaret vixen of the Malta club”? An appealing and resourceful protagonist with realistic personal problems complements an intricate plot filled with valid suspects and motives. Readers will want to see more of Billie. Agent: Liza Fleissig, Liza Royce Agency.
January 1, 2023
Unlicensed PI Billie Levine attempts to revive her grandfather's detective agency as a way of earning money to provide care for her mother, suffering from early-onset dementia. Working out of a booth in a Jewish deli in Teaneck, New Jersey, she's hoping to land low-stress cases, maybe tracking philandering spouses. Then Tommy Russo, a heroin-addicted college student from a wealthy family, comes calling, wanting Billie to find his missing girlfriend, Jasmine, a student, stripper, and crime podcast host. Soon enough Jasmine turns up dead, and the trail leads to the Mob-run Malta Club, a cabaret whose owner's son is Billie's on-again, off-again boyfriend, Aaron. The waters are muddied further when a cold case Jasmine was investigating--the murder of another dancer at the club, 30 years earlier--connects to Billie's grandfather. YA author Giarratano capably keeps a plethora of balls in the air in the suspect-drenched, tangled plot, but the real draw here is Billie, her family, and the sundry, offbeat characters in their orbit--all fully fleshed and filled with infectious spirit. Fans of Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum and her entourage will be right at home.
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