Death of an Ex

 

Death of an Ex is the second PI noir mystery featuring  by Delia Pitts. Released 15th July 2025 by Macmillan on their Minotaur imprint, it's 320 pages and is available in hardcover, audio, and ebook formats. Paperback due out in late April 2026 from the same publisher. It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links and references throughout. 

This is a very well written PI thriller with an appealing, strong, flawed, and badass female protagonist. She's a former cop, the daughter of a cop, back in her hometown in New Jersey after a personal tragedy caused her to go back to her roots and set up as a PI. Now settling into her hometown again, with the notoriety of a high profile case behind her, she's dealing with the complication of her ex walking back into her life, soon to be even more complicated by his untimely demise.

She does the usual divorce and process serving to keep the bills paid and get back on her feet, along with recovering from alcohol (quit cold turkey), some risky dating behavior, and working out at a local boxing gym. The fact that she's female, nearly 6 feet tall, and black is both a magnet for trouble and her trademark. She doesn't back down, she's tenacious, and stubborn.

It's not at all derivative, but fans of strong "lone knight" PI fiction (John D. Macdonald, Robert Parker, and Randy Wayne White, et al.) will find a lot to like here. In this case, the fact that the protagonist is female, black, cynical, and potentially brave to the point of foolhardiness, is a plus. The prose is -really good- and there are some undertones of Val McDermid and Peter May in there (but indelibly American (and black)). 

The unabridged audiobook has a run time of 11 hours 52 minutes and is superbly read by series narrator Bahni Turpin. She does a phenomenal job of delineating the characters of a range of ages and both sexes. Sound and production quality are high throughout the read. 

There are central themes of open and hidden racism, sexism, assault, murder, (a LOT of) duplicity, and mental health issues.  Some scenes are graphic. The racism was difficult to read (and almost certainly more difficult to live with). It's stark and realistic. 

Four and a half stars. Five for the audiobook narration. The series is shaping up very well; the third book is due out 1st Dec 2026. The denouement and resolution are satisfying; it's a very bumpy ride to get to the end. It would be an excellent choice for public library acquisition, fans of gritty American PI fiction, or a binge/buddy read. 

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.