Trouble in Queenstown

 

Trouble in Queenstown is a standalone lone wolf PI mystery by Delia Pitts. Due out 16th July 2024 from Macmillan on their Minotaur imprint, it's 320 pages and will be available in hardcover, audio, and ebook formats. 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. 

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 white 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 -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 59 minutes and is superbly read by 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. It's not specifically foreshadowed in the book, but the author has left the option open to revisit the characters later. The denouement and resolution are satisfying; it's a very bumpy ride to get to the end. 

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

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